Streets of London
by Citrus Newt
Summary: AU Street kids. They’re always there and probably always will be. And they’re useless. Not worth thinking about. At least that is what Kagome Higurashi has always been taught. But then she got that project... There’s always two sides to one story on hold
1. Prologue

Streets of London

I wrote this ages ago and thought that I could try it out since I can't find another that's really similar. I haven't fully planned it out yet, so this is kind of a trail… if you want me to continue say. (Review _please_!)

Summary: (AU) Street kids. They're always there. They probably always will be. And they're useless. Not worth thinking about. Lazy, stupid losers. At least that is what Kagome Higurashi has always been taught. But then she got that project … there's always two sides to one story…

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither Streets of London nor Inuyasha. If I owned either of the things that I write about… maybe I could live in Spain… hot… sunny… Spain. (drifts into dreamland.)

Oh, yeah. Some words in the song may change slightly… as not all of it would make sense otherwise.

**

* * *

Prologue **

_Have you seen the street kid?_

_In the closed down market?_

_Kicking up the papers,_

_With his worn out shoes?_

_In his eyes you see no pride, _

_Hand held loosely by his side._

_Yesterday's papers._

_Telling yesterday's news._

Miroku wandered around the empty stalls. The square was deserted as it had been for years. Here and there the rough wind blew papers and rubbish up in the air. Old papers, old news. Just like him.

He was quite tall for a seventeen year old, with brown eyes and a roguish smile that lit up a face that was too weary and too thin. If he smiled. His messy black hair was tied tight at the back with an old bobble, and he wore loose black and blue rags.

Miroku was a street kid, a dosser. He had nothing. Nothing to live for, nothing to hope for. Nothing to smile contentedly about. Orphaned at twelve, the streets were his home.

He made the best of it, cheering others up when they were down. He often tried to get a job. No one cared. No one wanted someone who had nothing.

The harsh biting wind blew his long ragged coat around. He shivered. Winter was upon London, and the people were inside their nice warm houses, with their nice friendly families. Hell, he would give anything to be there. After his parents had died, Mushin had taken him in. Vicious old drunkard that he was, he had taught Miroku everything he knew. Pity, really, what had happened. Miroku still missed his old master.

There were still takings to find in the old market. It was Miroku's home, his place of sanctuary. People threw junk and rubbish here. Miroku didn't care. What was junk to them was salvation to him. Take that torch. He'd found it, sold it and had enough money to buy some food. His stomach growled at the thought of that. Food.

The Londoners had it in abundance. The street kids did not.

He fingered the loose change in his pocket. Yes. Enough for some food, maybe a cake. Anything but the pain of hunger. Now, where to go? Somewhere cheap, that was for certain…

_So how can you tell me,_

_You're lonely?_

_And say for you _

_That the sun don't shine?_

_Let me take you by the hand,_

_And lead you through the streets of London._

_I'll show you something,_

_That'll make you change your mind._

_

* * *

Have you seen the young girl? _

_Who walks the streets of London?_

_Dirt in her hair,_

_And her clothes in rags?_

_She's no time for talking,_

_She just keeps on walking,_

_Carrying her home,_

_In two carrier bags._

A lot can change in a year.

Sango brushed her dark hair out of her haunted eyes with one hand as she hurried down the street to get out of the weather. Raggedy beggar girl she looked, she had once been something so much more than that.

Her family, her friends. She could picture them in her head. Her mother, so pretty and sweet natured, and her father, the backbone of the family. Her brother, Kohaku, teasing her on the way to school…

It seemed so near and yet so far….

The wintry weather was taking hold of London, and Sango shivered as the skies started to open. She hurried along faster, praying that she would find somewhere to shelter.

The street was dingy and damp. An alley rather than a street, really. The doorways were dank and smelly, like last weeks rubbish. Empty bins loomed here and there in the gloom. Sango hastily placed her bag in one to keep it dry. Litter rolled around, tortured by the large splashing drops of liquid that steadily soaked the floor. From within her old dirty jacket came a soft meow.

"Hush, Kirara," Sango murmured to her youkai cat. Humans and youkai were both accepted in the society of London, though many had their prejudices… the youkai thought that the humans were weak and pathetic, while the humans considered the "demons" to be vicious killing machines. Stereotypes.

Sango's father and mother, heck, her whole family had worked with youkai, and she understood better than most how _mis_understood youkai were.

The windows of the alley were dark and daunting, like doorways to eternity waiting to suck her up. There was nowhere to shelter. Drenched, she hurried on.

Everyone who could was inside, sheltering, and Sango could see the lights behind the locked windows. A different world was out there and thanks to fate, she could never be part of it.

The streets were empty and she hurried on, alone. Some cars roared past, spraying up the filthy water from the steadily flooding roadside. Not that she could get any wetter…

A year ago Sango had been your average London school girl, getting good marks and grades. She had decent GCSE's and was looking forward to a good life. Then, in one night, everything changed. Her family, gone, her friends not there for her. Suddenly she was on her own.

Yes, a lot can change in a year.

_So how can you tell me,_

_You're lonely?_

_And say for you_

_That the sun don't shine?_

_Let me take you by the hand_

_And lead you through the streets of London._

_I'll show you something,_

_That'll make you change your mind._

* * *

(A.N. I apologise for the awful word changes. But I can't imagine Miroku drinking tea. (And if you have no idea what I am talking about… well, praise be above for salvation!)) _

* * *

In the all night café _

_At a quarter past eleven._

_Same scruffy kid,_

_Sitting there on his own._

_Looking at the world_

_Through the steam of his hot coffee_

_Each minute seems an hour_

_As he watches there alone._

It was raining.

It lashed against the windows and beat against the door. The street was dark and foreboding, turned into a battlefield of water and mud rather than a walkway. The small, dingy café was cold, but at least it was dry.

The chairs were crammed against small, off-white tables, and the only customer was a teenager with hair tied into a scraggly ponytail at the back of his head.

Miroku looked gratefully at his coffee. Thank the lord above for caffeine! He still had some money left… but that should be saved for another time. He slowly sipped the drink, savouring the hot liquid as it warmed him, warm as he had not been for months. Money was hard to come by this time of year. People were saving up for Christmas.

The shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen, probably tucked somewhere in one of the other rooms, snoozing in the warmth of a radiator. The street was deserted, as no sane person would be out in this weather.

Miroku gazed absently out of the window, taking in the pouring rain as it hammered past the small, dim streetlights, splashing into the puddles, lashing at the girl who was shivering outside the window, beating at the window… wait… a girl?

'Caffeine's finally hit me,' he thought. He looked again.

Yes, she was there, black hair in a ponytail that dripped down her neck and dressed as raggedly as him. She was holding a wet bundle in the filthy jacket she wore. She also looked wet herself.

Disregarding the coffee, he stood up and strolled over to the door, casually looking backwards to confirm that the shopkeeper was nowhere in sight. Then he walked out into the weather.

"Excuse me, fair lady." She looked up, startled. The bundle in her arms was revealed to be a very wet and soggy cat.

"What… what do you want?" She backed off fearfully.

"To ask you one question, my lady." She paused, looking at him.

"Would you bear my child!" he smiled.

The girl looked first surprised, but then that quickly changed into indignation.

"Hentai!" she slapped him. He staggered, dazed.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Miroku, and to which beauty do I have the pleasure of meeting?" He shook his head to clear it.

_That was a good start_, he thought sarcastically.

The girl looked suspiciously at him. "Sango." She finally said.

"Well then, my dear Sango, come with me inside and you can have a hot drink to apologise for my rude greeting."

Sango appeared to blush. "I would love that," she said, eyes glowing. "But I have no money – I live on the streets, you see."

"So do I fair lady, and the drink's on me." He walked inside. She followed.

"The profiteer of this wonderful café is at present indisposed, so I will be serving," he continued, as the bedraggled girl walked in, leaving a trail of puddles behind her.

"Would you like coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?"

Sango gaped at him. "H…hot ch..chocolate?" she shivered. "y…yes please. " Miroku smiled.

"And as I make it you can tell me the tragic tale about how a fair princess such as yourself came to live on the streets like me, a lowly life form."

Sango's lip trembled. Miroku finished pouring the hot drink and gently pressed it into her freezing hands.

"We all have our sob stories," he whispered, dark eyes close to her. "And you can keep quiet. But you won't be alone any more."

_So how can you tell me,_

_You're lonely?_

_And say for you _

_That the sun don't shine?_

_Let me take you by the hand_

_And lead you through the streets of London._

_I'll show you something,_

_That'll make you change your mind. _

_

* * *

Have you seen the hanyou, _

_Looking out across the river?_

_Thinking of a someone,_

_But there's no body there._

_In our winter city,_

_The rain cries a little pity, _

_For a lost and lonely orphan,_

_And a world that doesn't care._

The boy with the silver hair looked up at the weather.

_Damn it all, its gonna rain._

He twitched his sensitive nose and wrapped his arms around his baggy red clothes, which might have once been decent but were now battered and worn.

"Shit" he muttered, as the first few drops fell onto his small, dog-like ears. "I hate rain."

The Thames was becoming stormy and choppy, the way he liked it. The waters swirling, churning, mesmerising, the never-ceasing voice of the river talking, singing.

The river was his home, he had grown up around it. Humans may accept youkai, and humans may be accepted by youkai. Neither, however, tolerated Hanyous. Thus Inuyasha, son of a youkai lord, was outcast.

He hurried along the footpath, seeking shelter. The rain was getting heavier now, and he felt uneasy. Rain could hide many dangers…

He started to run, faster and faster, until he was a blur, then a breath of wind. He couldn't keep it up for long, he knew, as he had not touched food for three days. But he could get out of the rain…

WHAM!

Failing to see where he was going, he collided with a girl of around his own age dressed in a long jacket, carrying a youkai cat. She looked pretty wet, and shrank back when she saw him.

"Sorry." She said. He picked himself up out of the puddle.

"Feh." He shook himself, then walked on. No point hurrying now, he couldn't get any wetter.

Inuyasha had grown up on the streets; never knowing a house or a family, he really didn't know what he was missing. For him hunger was normal; something to be put up with, nothing to moan about. Hell, he didn't exactly have anyone to moan _to. _School? That was just a word. Inuyasha could barely read and write. Oh, friends?

Who'd _want_ to be friends with a _hanyou _?

Inuyasha didn't want pity. A rough, streetwise teenager who knew nothing else, he asked for nothing and gave nothing in return.

The rain continued to fall, and, in despair, Inuyasha settled himself in a small, close, alley, and tried to get to sleep, ignoring the rain and the harsh, biting wind.

His situation could not be worse. And in a strange way, he was grateful.

For what do you take from the boy who has nothing?

_So how can you tell me,_

_That you're lonely?_

_And say for you _

_That the sun don't shine?_

_Let me take you by the hand,_

_And lead you through the streets of London._

_I'll show you something,_

_That'll make you change your mind._

* * *

(Winces at word changes below) _

* * *

Now for the rich girl, _

_Who knows no want or need,_

_Has a kind loving family,_

_And asks for nothing more._

_To her the world is perfect,_

_Well that's what you'd expect,_

_From someone who has everything,_

_And knows nothing else._

Kagome Higurashi had it all. Her grandfather, a wealthy (though slightly batty) businessman, and her mother, the well paid manager of a hair salon. She was smart, she was pretty, she was kind. The perfect girl. And best of all, she didn't realise it.

"Mum, I'm off!" She yelled up the many flights of stairs to her mother.

"Waaaiiiit foooor meeeeee!" He younger brother Souta came running down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Hey, how come I have to go to school with _you,_ squirt?" she asked playfully.

Souta looked at her with the famous puppy-dog eyes. "Cos mum said."

"Come on then."

"Yeah!"

The two siblings set off down the road. The gardens along here were well kept and neatly trimmed, the pavements perfectly level. The rain from last night had left puddles, and brother and sister each tried to splash the other without getting wet.

"Gotcha!" Kagome looked down mournfully at her legs. She was wearing the normal school uniform, green pleated skirt and a white (styled) blouse with the green school tie. All of these were dry. Her shoes, socks, and long legs, however, were completely and utterly soaked.

"Souta! Come here now!" She yelled at her younger brother as he sped out of sight, nearly running over an old woman walking across the road.

"Come and get me!" was his fading reply. Kagome immediately gave chase, again running into the old woman.

"Sorry!" she yelled over her shoulder as her normally cool-tempered neighbour shook her head.

Kagome's friends in school, Eri, Yuka and Ayumi were thrilled to see her.

"Hey, Kagome, whatcha do over the weekend then?" Eri asked her

Kagome shrugged. "Dad got me a new bike – its pink."

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi exchanged looks. All three had dark hair, and wore the school uniform in much the same way as Kagome. However, something always seemed to separate the one from the three. She was always just a little more serene, just a little bit cleverer. However, since Kagome really didn't seem to notice, the others didn't mind.

"A new _bike?_" asked Yuka her eyes widening to the size of melons. "Just like that? How much was it?"

Kagome sighed. It always came down to price with these three. "I don't know," she lied. She knew perfectly well that the bike had cost about £400, but if she said anything, the others would either say a) "That's really expensive Kagome, mine was only £200. Don't you have a value of money?" or B) "With your money you could afford a better bike." Either way she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Come on, the bell is going to go soon," she quickly looked at her watch to change the subject.

"No it's not, it's only…." Ayumi's voice trailed off as…

"Hi Higurashi!" Hojo, the one dubbed 'best-looking-and-most-popular-boy-in-the-entire-of-the-school-for-those-kind-of-people' had come to say his morning greetings to Kagome. Phew!

Hojo was really what a girl should want. Tall, but not too much, slim, but not weedy, with short brown hair and eyes to die for. Yet, despite his efforts, Kagome still refused him. No matter what her friends said, she didn't feel that they were right for one another.

"Hello Hojo," she smiled warmly. "Good weekend?"

"Yes, I'd say so. Hey, Kagome, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"I'm sorry, Hojo, but my parents are out and I have to baby-sit my younger brother." She turned a mask of regret on him. He sighed.

"See you later, Higurashi." He left.

Kagome walked to class with her friends ranting all the way there.

* * *

OK – please tell me if you love or hate… Please? 

CN.


	2. Project

Thank you so much, you guys who reviewed – Jamie, Firyfeline and DR! I really appreciate it! (And I looked 'realise' up – it's definitely an 's' in my English dictionary! I really appreciated the point though.) (And thanks everyone who reviewed Magpies too!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Zilch!

Let's go! Chappie one! Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Firyfeline for being a great writer and an awesome reader!

"…" speech

_Italics:_ thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Change of scene/time

**Chapter 1**

**Project**

Kagome looked around at her English class. Well, it could be a lot worse, She was sitting by her friends, in a corner of the yellow room. The teacher was taking the register, Mrs. Kaede she was called. She was quite old, but well liked by all the students.

The morning had gone well, what with science, then social studies (to "help" relationships between humans and youkai. Actually, it basically alienated a lot of the students.), then (horror) history. English was the last lesson before lunch. Kagome's stomach was moaning at her. She ignored it.

"This week we will be looking at a part of society most of you probably don't know anything about." The old lady looked around the room. She only had one eye; rumour was that she had lost it in a fight when she was younger. She had come to the school a year ago, with the eye missing and gossip in her wake.

"Youkai?" guessed a girl with short blonde hair. "Could we visit their school?" she added excitedly. The different species had different schools to avoid fights and discrimination.

"No, Rachel," the teacher smiled. "We will be looking at the homeless."

There were murmurs around the class. Kagome and her friends looked at each other uneasily.

"I would like you to do a project on them," the teacher continued. "You will need to research the different reasons why people become homeless, perhaps write a "diary on the life" of a homeless person. You could do all sorts of things, like talking to people who work for a homeless charity, like Shelter, or something similar."

(N.B. I don't own Shelter either.)

She looked around, her eyes falling on a group of boys at the back of the class. "I want you to do _all_ aspects of homelessness," she added, "For youkai and humans, and for different ages and," she eyed the class doubtfully "for different genders and how each gets treated."

The girls and some boys giggled.

"Anyway," Kaede eyed them sternly, "You should aim to write a minimum of twenty sides, with different points of interest; facts, figures, and there must be one creative piece in there too. You have three months to do this; it will go towards your grade, so I suggest you do a good job."

The class sighed. Graded pieces were no fun at all. And twenty sides! Kaede was being very demanding.

"Three months?" murmured Kagome, "I reckon that'll be enough time."

"Not for me," Ayumi whispered back, "I'm on holiday next week, and so's Yuka."

Eri was about to add her comment but held back as Mrs Kaede looked at her with a glint in her eye.

"Well, I think that's quite enough for English for today. Start packing up, please. You will start properly on your work tomorrow."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"How could she do this to us!" Eri wailed at lunch, absently prodding her sandwich.

"Why? I'm really busy this term what with the school production and all; I don't have _time_ to do some stupid project!"

"What about me?" Yuka asked. "I'm going to Spain for three weeks soon – how am I meant to do the damn thing?"

"That woman's evil" Ayumi declared flatly. "An evil, evil, cow."

"I don't know," said Kagome thoughtfully. "I mean, we might learn something."

The other three stared at her in shock.

"Why would we want to concern ourselves with those losers on the streets?" asked Yuka.

"Yeah, we all know that it's their own fault that they're there," added Ayumi.

"And we shouldn't even bother with them," continued Eri, seriously. "Mum always said never to give anything to a homeless person because they'll spend it all on drugs and alcohol and act like general hooligans."

"Yeah! Kaede's set us a project on druggies and vandals!" cried Yuka.

"I can't wait to tell mum and dad," said Ayumi. "I bet they say I don't have to do it!"

"Poor you, Kags," Eri told her. "Your mum will make you do it, won't they?"

Kagome grinned. "I don't know if that's a bad thing," she replied.

"Kagome's gonna talk to dossers!" Yelled Yuka. "Kagome's gonna mix with the druggies! Kagome's gonna…..mmmmf!" Kagome clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" she hissed.

"Isn't it true?"

"Well…"

"See? You know that."

"I don't care."

"You're going to do it then?"

"Yep."

"But Kagome, they're _sub-human ! _"

"So?"

"And they smell."

"And?"

"They're a no good bunch of…"

"_Eri _!"

"It's true!"

"Shut the hell up! I'm going to do this project, do it properly, get good marks and get you off my back!"

"But _Kags_…"

"'But Kags' nothing. I'm going to music!" and with that, the girl who had it all stormed off, leaving her three friends to gape in wonder.

"Think she'll do it?"

"Knowing Kagome?"

"Yes."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The sun was shining weakly. The air was clear. Puddles shone on the ground, a tribute to the rage of last night's weather. The whole place had that feel of being freshly washed. However, this was not good news for Sango.

She stood gasping over her 'home,' the bag that she had placed in a bin late the previous night.

"It's _soaking_!" she exclaimed in dismay. "Oh, no. _Everything_ I had was in there!"

Miroku bravely reached in a pulled the bag out with his one gloved hand. The fabric was ruined. And everything inside didn't look too great either.

"Oh, crap!"

All of Sango's food was ruined. She produced a small boomerang from one of the pockets. "At least Hiraikotsu's OK."

Miroku looked at it curiously. The boomerang was small and delicately made, with razor sharp edges. It seemed to grow slightly in her hand.

Kirara purred. It seemed that she didn't really care whether the food was ruined.

Sang produced a curious item of clothing, which looked like a sort of leotard. Miroku looked on curiously.

"Later," she murmured.

After several minutes it was clear that Sango wasn't going to be able to save anything more. Miroku shrugged.

"You can come with me if you would like. I have room where I live." He said the word 'live' with a certain twist to it.

Sango smiled. "That would be wonderful."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The morning wore on as the two homeless teens wandered around London. People were out shopping, and Sango tried in vain to beg for some money. After getting punched in the face, she was forced to stop.

"Ungrateful whore!" The man who had hit her walked off.

Sango nursed her bleeding nose as Miroku produced a piece of cloth to wipe it with.

"Pinch it, it helps." He advised.

"You've been hit a lot?" Sango asked

"Well… yes." The teen replied. "The girls find me a bit much."

"I can imagine." Sango remembered his question to her the night before. _Such a hentai._ She thought.

"However, allow me to try getting some income," he continued. "I appear to have had more practice than you."

"What're you…"

"Ah, my dear lady," Miroku had gone up to a passer by. "Would you like to buy a Christmas angel?" The woman stared at him in disbelief. He smoothly continued. "In pristine condition, an angel for ten pounds."

Sango wondered what he would do if she accepted. He didn't appear to have anything to give.

"May I see the angel?" the woman asked. "I do need one, but my tree is awkward to fit…"

Miroku produced the item in question with a flourish. It was indeed an angel, from the glowing golden hair to the flowing silky imitation dress. Sango hid her astonishment with difficulty,

"Here you go, madam. Just ten pounds."

The woman with the dark curly hair examined it closely. After prodding and poking it several times she nodded.

"I'll take it. Do I get a receipt?" Miroku smiled disarmingly.

"No, my dear lady, you merely need to find me and tell me that you are not happy if you wish to return it."

The (seemingly gullible) lady smiled and nodded back, then bought the angel. Miroku waltzed up to Sango, seemingly delighted.

"And that," he said triumphantly, "Is how I make a living!"

Sango gaped at the crisp ten-pound note in his hand. He looked at it, than at her, the street girl in the green skirt, pink top and long raggedy jacket.

"Here." He said. "We'll split the money." Sango gaped.

"..."

_Whumph_! She threw herself onto Miroku, who gasped, then smiled foolishly. Next thing…

"Hentai!" Sango brained him with her boomerang.

Miroku rubbed his aching head. "Ah, I tried. Come, let's go elsewhere."

As they walked, Sango questioned her new friend on his money making strategy.

"Where did you get that angel?" she asked.

Miroku shrugged. "I live, if that is the word, in the closed down market. I find things there. My friend, Hachi, a youkai, fixes them for me. I pay him, and keep what I earn."

"What do you pay him with?" Sango was curious – most youkai didn't set a great store by money.

"With things I pick up that he likes. Easily satisfied, is Hachi."

"Here's a question," Sango continued.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you always wear that fingerless glove and those beads on your hand?"

Miroku held the hand in question up. There was a certain tone in his voice that Sango could not put her finger on. Regret?

"I've always had to wear this glove. It's something I've grown used to."

"But why…"

"Hush" Miroku put a finger to her lips. She hid her blush with difficulty.

"When my grandfather was young he was a great man. He fought in the Great War between the youkai and the humans.

"But, one time, a youkai cursed him, because he, as a captain, had won his battle. And that, I guess, was his undoing."

Sango put a comforting arm on his shoulder. "You don't have to go on. I understand."

"No, I do. If you are to stay with me, you must understand this.

"Anyway, the curse took place in the form of a strange mark on his hand. He didn't understand what it did until it killed someone."

Sango drew in a sharp breath.

"On each of the male children since then, there has been the same mark. If we touch someone with it, it kills him or her, as if they had been poisoned. It's … horrible. And, eventually, the poisonous touch of my hand will spread to my body and kill me too.

"When my grandfather realised this, he tried everything. Nothing worked. He found he could contain it by wearing a glove and keeping healing stones around his hand. But it could not stop his death."

Sango felt tears spring into her eyes – tears for another, which she had not felt in so long. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be." He said, looking at the sky, a distant look in his eyes. "But I had to tell you, don't you see? I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

Sango paused, then asked the most painful question of all. "How… how long do you have left?"

Miroku shrugged, still looking at the sky. "A few years, maybe, then I go to join my father. But in those few years, I've vowed to avenge my family – if I knew where to start."

Sango silently grabbed his arm and held it there, a strange comfort in this life of cruelty and despair.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Inuyasha hesitantly uncurled himself from his cold refuge. The rains of the night had gone, to reveal a day so bright and fresh it didn't seem real. He slunk out of hiding wondering if he was in a dream.

The dream ended as someone threw a book at him from a window.

"Get out of here, hanyou. We don't want you. Go to the youkai side of town."

Inuyasha hastily ran away.

There was no point in fighting – he wouldn't gain anything. But he had tried to go to the other side of the city. He had been driven away from there, too.

"Stupid damn human." He muttered, as he strolled down the empty street. He would have to find a place to hide – the people would be coming out soon and he did not really want to have any fights, because that would mean running from the police again.

What he did need, the silver-haired boy decided, was some food, and maybe a bath. Yes. A bath would be good.

Inuyasha considered where to steal his next meal. The supermarket bread was usually a good place to start… they always left the windows open…

>

>

Yeah...that was to get into the story.Whatcha think?

CN.


	3. Getting Started

Yey! Thanks DR and Jamie… And a huge hug to Jamie to say thanks to you for pointing out my grammar errors – I've fixed them now (bar the quotation marks – you don't _have_ to have them there but it's not actually incorrect!) Anyway… I'm determined not to make any this time!

And I _will_ conquer stupid writer's block! (The reason for a lack of updates.) Sooner or later, anyway…

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plotline, and hey, I'm not even sure I own that… someone _somewhere_ has probably already had the idea…

"…" speech

_italics: _thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>change of time/scene

**Chapter 2**

**Getting Started**

The day was overcast, grey and cloudy. The kind of day no person would really want to be outside, even with that slight tinge of excitement that meant Christmas was on its way. Though it was early November, shops had already started decking their windows with festive attractions, taking down the bonfire night displays that had resided there only days before. The streets were empty, and it was one of those times that Kagome really wished that she wasn't quite so stubborn.

She hurried alone the road, dressed in a long brown coat and a warm fluffy scarf. In her small brown backpack she carried some books and a pencil case in the hope that she could write something down that day. When Kagome did something, she did it well.

"Urgh, I hate this weather!" she sighed as she skirted a puddle. "Remind me why I did this again?"

She knew of course.

The problem now was finding someone she could talk to. Shelter had seemed like a good idea, but the people there had been too busy to talk. And the one time she needed to find someone homeless was the one time they all went on vacation.

"Oooh… " Kagome's trail of thought abruptly ended as she spotted a dress in the shop across the road. "That's really pretty…"

Half an hour later, and with a considerably heavier bag, Kagome tottered out of the shop with not just the dress, but two jumpers and a skirt as well.

She started walking home, thinking of all the occasions she could wear her new purchases. She was in such a daze that she didn't notice the three beggars at the side of the road, nor the little kid who was trying to steal an apple from the grocers. In fact, she didn't notice anything until…

"Kagome! You got your research done quickly!" Souta beamed at her from the front door. "Find anything?"

"Crap!"

Dropping her stuff, Kagome shot back out of the door.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Wow!"

Sango stood under the old banner, looking around.

"It's not that impressive," Miroku shifted uneasily.

There were upturned stalls all over the place, some of the canvas coverings starting to rot. Papers littered the ground, as did all manner of rubbish. In one corner was a giant heap of rusting metal, intermingling with scraps that people wouldn't even feed their dogs, parts of old cushions, old clothes, varying books with pages missing… anything that Sango could think of was there. At least, anything she could think of to throw out, anyway. The red bricks were old and stained, and by the looks of the far corner, a drain was blocked. Up above the square, a few shabby houses loomed, with torn curtains and shattered glass.

"It's like a ghost town!" Sango stepped forwards, slowly.

"That it may be, but," Miroku nodded to a small archway. "It's habitable."

The archway was dark and dingy as Miroku lead Sango to it. Once her eyes had become accustomed to the light, she looked around in shock.

"Welcome to my home." Said Miroku, with a flourish.

Blankets covered one corner, along with a few old pillows. In another sat a small box, and inside that was a mound of old parts that Miroku had apparently salvaged. And though it was dark and looked slightly inhospitable, it was more than Sango had had since she lost her home.

"Its amazing!" She exclaimed.

"You can stay for as long as you like," said Miroku. "There's plenty of room, and plenty of blankets left as well."

Sango was speechless. She really, truly could not think of anything to say.

_This boy… I've only just met him… and yet he's being so nice to me… and after so long, too. I haven't had anyone to call 'friend' since mum and dad… apart from Kirara that is. So why is it that he's so… so…_

Sango threw herself on Miroku for the second time that day. Normally she would not be so emotional… but after being alone for so long it finally had hit home just how much she had missed someone to call that one small word: 'friend.' No, more than that: '_her _friend'.

"Uh… Sango?" Miroku blinked at her, slightly bemused. Unlike her, he had never had what one could call a normal life – so he didn't really understand why she was crying.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Sango tried to stem the tears in her eyes, but one escaped.

"It's OK… you can cry if you want to… here." Miroku sat her down on a cushion and pulled one up for himself too. Unfortunately, that didn't really help Sango too much.

"M… Miroku… why are you doing this?" She turned her dark eyes upon the teen next to her. "Why are you helping me?"

_Guess street-life's made her cautious. _Miroku met her gaze and opened his mouth…

Big mistake.

_Dang! She's got gorgeous eyes! In fact, with a little… No! Comfort her you idiot!_

Sango stared at his slightly bewildered expression. He shook himself slightly.

"Why should I not help you?" he asked to give his thoughts some order.

_Don't fall for a girl you just met, don't fall for a girl you just met…_

"But… no one else has ever tried to talk to me… or even looked at me without distaste or pity…"

"Yeah… I know how that feels." Miroku hugged her shoulders closer to him, restraining his hands from going too much lower. (Hey! He'll always be Miroku!)

"_Pity… pah!" Mushin took a long gulp of his drink. Miroku sat off to one side slightly, clutching his knees._

"_Why shouldn't we want pity?" he asked._

"_Pity." His master grunted, wiping his mouth. Despite having drowned several cups of the cheap sake, he was still sober… enough. "That's all it is. A feeling. We can pity ourselves when we need it… we can pity others. Does that pity help anyone?"_

"_No…" Miroku bowed his head._

"_Don't make that mistake, boy." Mushin eyed his empty cup. "Help people who need it… do not pity those who care nothing for it."_

"_Do we really not care for pity at all?" The young boy was confused. "It means people are feeling for us."_

"_Feelings never helped anyone. Actions will. Tell those who look at us with that pity to help… and they run."_

Jerking himself back to the present, Miroku saw Sango was looking away.

"Is that only why you helped me?" she asked suddenly. "Because you felt we were alike?"

"Well… yes, at first." Miroku took a deep breath. "But when I saw you… it was like someone came to me and _said _to help you… and said that maybe I could have someone to care about… and…" his voice dropped to a whisper that Sango could no longer hear "…who cares about me."

Sango smiled and hugged her knees tight together. In the shelter next to her, Kirara purred.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There are some things that are meant to be, and there are others that never should have happened. Sometimes, the line between these gets blurred and when that happens, someone somewhere is hurt. Badly.

Too bad Inuyasha didn't realise sooner that hanyous should not be loved – and certainly should never return that love. That's what both the youkai and humans always had told him, through various insults and curses. Too bad he hadn't listened.

Inuyasha sat on a rooftop overlooking the city. The streets were quiet and the hanyou felt that a short rest would not really go amiss.

The clouds scuttled overhead, some quickly and some very slowly. Inuyasha lay backwards, out of sight of the road and watched the weather work its course, wondering if the rain of the previous week would return with vengeance.

He could hear a few lone shoppers ambling along the street beneath him, heading for the main shops a few blocks away. There was that feeling of Christmas… of excitement… in the air that was almost a taste on his mouth.

The hanyou, however, was unaffected by this good cheer. The reason? Simple. The song blaring out from some shop over the rooftops reminded him of _her._

She had accepted him as who he was, given him a place in the world. When she died, that world came crashing down in a giant ringing in his ears. And the song… "Winter's Tale"… she had always loved that song.

_It was only a winter's tale._

_Just another winter's tale._

_So why should the world take notice_

_Of one more love that failed?_

There was more of course, but Inuyasha buried his ears flat in his mane of smooth silver hair and chose not to listen.

The world had not missed Kikyo. But he still did – though it had been almost three years since she had died.

… _Only a winter's tale…_

That was their story all right. Their love was like a candle-flame that flickered and died.

Inuyasha buried the memories and tried to think of other things… like the girl he could hear talking beneath him…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome stomped down the street, furious with herself. How could she have done that? The clothes were nice, certainly, but she had lost over an hour!

Music rang out from a shop not far away, Christmas music. Kagome calmed down listening to the song… something about love and it not working out. The song was familiar somehow, though she couldn't place it.

The next song began, and Kagome cast it out of her mind. She had bigger problems. Like how to persuade some tramp to actually talk to her.

_What'll I do? Just go up to them and say, "Hi! How are you? I need you to answer some questions for me for a project!" Yeah right. _

Her mother had told her not to look sorry for them at all.

_Pity will not bring you respect. _She had warned. Kagome didn't have a clue what that meant.

_Oh well. I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow._

Despite loosing so much time she had continued searching… and that had proved fruitless, hence her bad mood.

"Lunch-time." She sighed, fishing a sandwich out of her bag.

She didn't notice the two pairs of hungry eyes watching her.

Kagome took a large bite out of the food, sighing a little at the filling.

_Tuna paste. Yuck!_

"Do you have any of that spare?" Kagome looked down into the cutest eyes she had ever seen.

"Hmph!" She started choking.

"I'm sorry!" The owner of the eyes, a small kitsune, (and the reason she was choking) looked really scared and thumped her hard on the back a couple of times until she had started turning back to her normal colour.

"No… I'm OK." The little youkai looked at her with big eyes again.

"Here, you can have all of it."

"ALL of it?"

"Go ahead."

As though it was the most precious thing on the planet, the redheaded kitsune started eating. Kagome took the chance to study him.

He was very, very cute. That was the first thing that she noticed. He had red-brown hair tied in a ponytail on top of his head and clear cat-green eyes. He was wearing a blue jacket over a grubby t-shirt – it looked as though it might have been white at some point. What Kagome really liked were the little fox hind legs that he stood on, almost looking like he would topple over.

_He really looks very sweet – but then again, so did Souta – and he was the worst toddler I've ever met. The cute ones – they're the dangerous ones._

"Thank you." He had devoured the food in record time and had turned to leave when…

"Do you want me to take you home?" He was so cute, Kagome couldn't help it.

"Home?" He appeared confused.

"Yes. Your house."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Haven't got one."

"Well, where you live then."

"You're there."

"Huh?"

Kagome looked around, puzzled. There didn't seem to be a lot around here actually. The houses seemed broken and alleys loomed in-between them. Kagome couldn't imagine where he lived… unless…

"I live on the streets," explained the kitsune. "I'm Shippou. What're you called?"

Kagome couldn't believe her luck. She'd found someone she could talk to. But…

_He's so young. There's no way that he could look after himself, is there?_

"I'm Kagome, and it's really nice to meet you. Where are your parents?"

The youkai looked down. Some of the bounce seemed to go out of him as he spoke. "They're dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

There was silence for a second.

Kagome plucked up her courage.

"Listen, I have to do a project for school about homeless people… could you let me talk to you about it?"

"No."

"Why not? Please, I'll give you money and food!"

"'Cos I'm a youkai. You want to find someone like Miroku."

"Who?"

"Miroku. Lives at the closed down market and sells stuff to youkai and humans who know where to find him."

"Ah." Kagome didn't really know what to say. He sounded like some wheeler-dealer.

"I have to do youkai too… could I still talk to you?"

"Yep! You don't have to give me anything though."

"I will anyway – how about money, then you can buy whatever you like."

"You'd do that?" He looked at her so trustingly, Kagome felt her heart melt. "Yes. Of course. Could we meet here tomorrow please? At about two?"

"Huh? Two?"

_Awwww! He's so cute!_

Kagome looked around for something constant. Then had an idea. "When the clock over there chimes "ding dong, ding dong."" She told him, pointing.

"When it does what?"

The clock obliged: "Ding-dong! Ding-Dong!"

"That."

"OK!"

And with that, the little kitsune vanished. Kagome smiled and set off home.

_And that's done!_

Well, that's what she thought.

Too bad it was only the beginning.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>

Yeah… there was a little fluff in there… I just thought that I should get the whole Sango/Miroku thing going so Sango doesn't get too emotional when she meets Kagome – and it would be kind of unrealistic if you didn't get all emotional if you got a friend for the first time.

Whatcha think?

CN.


	4. A Little Research

OK… Thanks to Cold Kikyo, WintersBlaze, shina-chan-kittykitty01, Rikaku, priestessmykala and Jamie for reviewing! (This passed the 10 review mark... wow!)

(And I feel like such an idiot for spelling Kirara wrong, so thank you very much to Jamie for pointing out the grammar mistakes… again. You're amazing!)

And about the lack of updates, sorry! Blame the school musical. At any rate, here's a longer chapter to make up for it.

Disclaimer: Uh… if I owned Inuyasha, Kagome… anyone, even Shippou, I would not be scrounging for money to buy my mother a mother's day present!

"…" Speech

_Italics: _thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Change of time/scene

**Chapter 3**

**A Little Research**

It was dark and icy. The wind howled over the rooftops like a wild beast and the stars seemed veiled. The clouds had covered the sliver of moon that there could have been, and the cold beckoned to shadowy emptiness.

Dark eyes surveyed the city, with its buildings and streets, alleys and monuments. If the night was icy, then these eyes were frozen in hatred. The figure matched the night perfectly.

His long black hair was braided into one long plait that flowed smoothly with the wind, and the hard eyes were currently narrowed. His long blue coat was unbuttoned and flew behind him like a cloak.

_You will pay, little fox kit. You will pay for what you did to my brother!_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Inuyasha grimaced in the alley corner. The chills seemed to reach his very heart these days. He supposed it was because he hadn't eaten properly in a while, but still…

He shivered involuntarily as a blast of icy wind swirled around the alley, and pulled his large red jacket around him tighter. Despite the fact his clothes were made with the fur of the fire-rat, they did little to stave off the cold wind. His ears were burrowed tight under his hair, but that had really made little impact to their temperature.

"Inuyasha?" The hanyou was not in the least surprised to see the little kitsune nearby. Shippou, who had met Inuyasha just after the death of his parents, seemed to come to him whenever he was in trouble.

"What is it, runt?"

"I'm cold." The silver-haired boy surveyed the young youkai. He was shivering inside his jacket, tail almost stiff with the chills in the air.

_He's just a kid, _Inuyasha mused. _He shouldn't be out in this weather._

"Here." He stood up and chucked the fox his coat. Underneath, he wore a white jumper – or at least, a jumper that had started white.

Shippou gaped.

"But you'll be cold!" He tried to give it back.

"Look runt, you come up to me saying you're cold and I give you my jacket! You could at least take it!"

"Oh… thanks." Shippou wrapped it around his small body, instantly feeling a lot warmer.

Inuyasha had realised by now just exactly how cold it was. He could see his breath in a little mist in front of him, and his hands were currently numb.

Ignoring the bitter weather, Inuyasha sat back down against his wall and tucked his hands inside his sleeves.

_It's going to be a long night._

Shippou, still cold, took a chance and settled down on the teen's lap.

Inuyasha did not mention how glad he was for the extra warmth.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sango and Miroku were not faring much better than the two non-humans. The wind had decided to blow in the general direction of Miroku's little archway, and this made it just as cold as if the two of them had sat out on a boat in the middle of the Thames. In fact, given that the wind blew around the square and in and out of the archway all the time, they might have been better off in a boat.

Sango had tried to get to sleep on one of the cushions, a blanket loosely tucked over her. Unfortunately, the biting cold had made sleep impossible.

Miroku appeared to be sleeping sitting up – at least, he looked asleep, for his head was down and his eyes were closed.

Kirara was the only one who was not bothered by the weather. She had simply tucked her tail in tight and fluffed her fur out a bit.

Sango looked on enviously.

_I wish I had a big, fluffy tail, or even a big fluffy blanket, with a hot water bottle next to me._

Too bad all she had was a worn cotton blanket and a rather smelly cushion.

Giving up all hope of sleep, Sango sat up, keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around her. Miroku, aroused from his half doze (all the rest he got in this kind of weather), crawled over.

"Are you alright?" Sango shrugged, pretending that she was all right. Unfortunately, her shivering hands betrayed her.

"You could always sleep with me if you are cold…"

_Smack!_

Miroku found himself rubbing a red handprint.

_Oh well, I tried…_

"I didn't mean it like _that_," he said. "I meant sharing the same blankets, so we can use each other's warmth! My intentions were pure."

Sango looked at him suspiciously, trying to decide which was worse, coldness or risk of groping. She opted for the former, crawling over to the other teen and throwing her blanket over the two of them.

"Don't try anything." She muttered, instantly feeling better.

"Wouldn't dream of it," murmured Miroku, who had decided that if he did, he'd probably end up with a black eye.

Sango, however, was already half asleep, and didn't reply.

_She looks so cute when she's asleep._

And with that thought, Miroku shut his eyes too.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome, meanwhile, was sitting up in bed reading. She could hear the wind howling outside and was really glad that she was inside.

_What idiots would be outside in this weather? _She wondered to herself. Then she realised what she had thought. _Shippou would be. I hope he's all right. _

It was strange how a chance meeting had softened her attitude to the homeless. She could almost picture them, outside now, in the bitter cold.

Her mother, upon hearing that she had found someone to help her with the project, had been very happy indeed for her daughter. She agreed fully that Kagome should give something to Shippou, since he was helping her.

"He sounds like a good kid," she had pointed out to her daughter as she folded the washing. "You should get to know him a little. Maybe he'd like to visit?"

Kagome supposed that Shippou would be a little awed by her home – and she'd feel so guilty about letting him visit then letting him back out again.

"I don't know." She had responded.

"Well, think about it."

Kagome had. She just didn't know.

Now, putting down the book, she went to check over the questions for Shippou she had written that day.

_Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring._

And with that thought, she fell asleep.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dawn tinged the sky. Miroku, Sango and Kirara were all asleep, as was Kagome. Inuyasha would very much have liked to sleep for another hour or so, but he never actually got that chance.

His tiredness had overcome the frigid cold in the end, and Shippou had slept very soon after jumping onto his lap. Thus why neither of them sensed the attacking youkai until it was a little too late.

_Thwam!_

The hanyou and the kitsune jumped up in surprise, and the thunder pike missed them both by inches.

Inuyasha looked at the youkai before him with some surprise. He was humanoid, but the red eyes marked him as something more than human.

"H…Hiten…" Shippou's frightened squeak trailed off abruptly as the youkai's gaze turned to him.

"You killed my brother… You're the one…"

Inuyasha jumped in front of Shippou just in time, catching the attack with his own weapon, a rusty sword - his only inheritance from his father.

"I don't know who the hell you are," gasped the hanyou as he felt the impact in his bones, "but Shippou's just a kid!"

The kitsune answered the unasked question.

"You killed my parents! Papa's foxfire killed Manten, it was his last gift to me!"

"I… don't… care!" Hiten, for that was obviously the youkai's name, jumped backwards abruptly, almost sending Inuyasha flying forwards. "My brother, Manten, is dead… and _you_ are going to pay."

Inuyasha glanced at the quivering ball of fur next to him.

"Shippou, get out of here." When the little kitsune hesitated, he snapped. "Now!"

The already-scared boy shot out of the alleyway faster than he had ever moved in his life.

To say Hiten was angry would be an understatement. "You will pay for that, half-breed, with your life!"

Inuyasha suddenly found himself hard pressed to defend himself from the crushing blows that Hiten was aiming at him. He didn't have very much control over his sword's power; the Tetsusaiga would not transform into the legendary fang of his father's at will. Inuyasha had learned this from bitter experience… he had to be in big trouble (if he wasn't fighting for someone) before the weapon would change into its true form.

Both fighters were determined to win this fight, and the alley was starting to get very battered indeed when Inuyasha slipped, fatigue finally catching up with him. Hiten's pike dug deep into his shoulder, and he stifled a yelp with difficulty.

"There, see?" Hiten's malevolent gaze seemed to close in on the hanyou. Inuyasha struggled to stand. "A little fox is not worth dying over. Not that I'll spare you."

"And a murdering brother is?" Inuyasha lunged forwards with the last of his strength as the tetsusaiga transformed and sliced Hiten clean in half. Fortunately there were no passers by, or they would have witnessed a mini-explosion as Hiten, former Thunder Brother, died, eyes wide open with shock.

Inuyasha dropped to his knees and put a trembling hand over his shoulder, which was dripping blood and now starting to throb quite painfully. Then, deciding he did not want to be found in the wrecked alley when the humans woke up, got slowly to his feet and leaped away after picking up the jacket Shippou had dropped.

No sense in leaving behind his only inheritance from his mother either.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Shippou ran for what seemed like hours before coming to a halt in a strange part of town. The little kitsune had panicked and lost his way, but fear had driven him on. Now, he looked around, slightly puzzled as to where he was.

The sun was up so he supposed that he had travelled for a good hour. (He might not have been able to read clocks but he had a good sense of time). Sighing, he decided the best course of action was to follow his own trail back until he knew where he was, and then find Inuyasha.

_He's so much stronger than many full youkai. I wonder why he doesn't hang around the youkai side of the city._

(Shippou had chosen the human side when he had realised that humans had more natural compassion than youkai.)

Moaning to himself, he bent down and started sifting through the smells to find his trail.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sango had decided to try to find something for breakfast, and Kirara had opted to go with her, which left Miroku on his own. The teen wandered around the market, kicking a few cans around while rubbing his arms to try and restore some life into them. For those who lived outside, it was a constant battle against the cold.

He was moderately surprised at the figure that landed in front of him.

"Inuyasha, what're you doing here?" The hanyou, though pretty reclusive by nature, had become an acquaintance of Miroku some years back.

Miroku had to admit to himself, Inuyasha didn't look entirely well. He was shaking slightly, and his eyes were not completely focused.

"What are you staring at?" Inuyasha blinked a few times to clear his head of the disorientation of his favourite mode of travel.

"Nothing," Miroku spread his arms harmlessly in front of him. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Got any spare cloth?" Inuyasha hated buying anything to help him heal, but it was preferable to having a white jumper with bloodstains.

"Cloth? I don't follow."

Exasperated, the hanyou unzipped his fire-rat jacket, his protection against the world, and showed Miroku his shoulder.

"Ah… say no more."

Miroku disappeared into his shelter and produced several old towels, too worn out to be used as blankets.

Inuyasha took the towels and gave the monk the broken wristwatch he had found in a bin.

Miroku looked at the watch with approval, then nodded. "Any time, friend."

Inuyasha merely looked up.

"Feh!"

Then he jumped away.

Miroku shrugged.

_I'll probably see him in a few weeks or so._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Shippou was not having much luck. He had run back into his end of town and was now trying desperately to find Inuyasha. The hanyou was not in the alley, but Shippou could smell that only the silver-haired boy had left - Hiten was dead.

After looking all around the Thames, one of Inuyasha's favourite haunts, Shippou was forced to concede to his aching legs. Prodding his grumbling stomach, the young youkai considered where he might find Inuyasha.

_Maybe he's on a rooftop somewhere?_

After catching his breath, he continued looking.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome grabbed her shoes.

_I'm gonna be late!_

After stepping outside and being forcefully reminded of the temperature by the wind, she shot back in and grabbed a coat too. Any observer would have to admit that she looked very cute in a light blue skirt and a dark blue jumper, with a pink necklace to finish off.

"I'm leaving!" She called as she closed the door.

Kagome walked down the drive happily.

_Project, here I come!_

Kagome had always liked Sundays.

She arrived at the designated meeting spot about five minutes early. The street was just as she remembered it, and clock tower was in clear view. Hopping about to keep warm, Kagome fervently hoped Shippou would remember.

The clock began to strike: "_Ding-dong, ding-dong"_

_Come on Shippou!_

Kagome almost went flying as something small and hard rammed into her back.

"Shippou!" she cried excitedly

The little youkai, who was sitting dazed on the floor from his collision, shook his head. He had not remembered to come, having been frantically searching for Inuyasha, and merely coming through the street during his search. Shippou knew that he'd been injured from the smell of blood in the alley and would have hated it if the hanyou had been hurt badly on his account.

Coincidences are sometimes very useful.

Kagome, who had no idea what had happened, cheerfully gave the fox a large sandwich wrapped in foil from her bag.

"Kagome?" He asked, memory suddenly snapping into action.

He looked at the food and sighed. "I can't answer your questions today, so I can't have this."

He offered it to the girl, who smiled and said that he could have it, even if he couldn't help her today.

"Thank you!" The kitsune pocketed it for later.

"I have to go now," he added.

"Where are you going?" Kagome was curious. He had seemed so carefree yesterday and now he appeared anxious.

"My friend got hurt in a fight and I can't find him anywhere."

Kagome picked him up. "How old is your friend?" she asked.

Shippou squinted at the girl.

"About your age, maybe a little older."

Kagome smiled. "Then I'm sure your friend knows how to take care of themselves."

When Shippou still looked worried, she added: "But I'll help you look."

Shippou perked up considerably at that.

"I was going to Miroku's to see if he'd seen him. You could talk to Miroku about your project too if you want."

"Deal!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome got to know the fox a little better en route, carrying him so he could eat on the move.

_He's so cute… it really makes me wonder why he's on the streets at all._

Shippou was on the lookout for the old market.

"There," he said suddenly.

Kagome turned down the small grotty street and found herself faced with the same sight as Sango had the previous day.

"Wow!" Kagome looked in surprise at the junk lying scattered around. "I never knew there was so much to throw out!"

"Most of it's still useable," a voice came from her side. "I fix it up and sell it."

Kagome twisted sharply, having been told several times that some street people are rough. However, she realised her fears were unfounded when she saw the teen of seventeen years standing there.

"You're Miroku?" she asked, looking him over.

_He looks really raggedy… he's quite cute though._

"Yes, and who might you be, fair lady?" Kagome took his hand hesitantly, then winced and gave him a slap.

"Get off me!"

Miroku, cursing his wandering hand, merely smiled. "I apologise. There was a little dirt on the back of your skirt."

"Miroku, who…?" Kagome turned to find herself faced by a girl with long dark hair and eyes.

_She looks about my age too!_

"Ah, this is Sango, and you are…?"

"Kagome."

Miroku nodded at her then looked questioningly at Shippou, who he had met once or twice before.

"What would you like? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Shippou wants information." Kagome supplied. "He says you might have seen his friend?"

"Inuyasha." Shippou jumped onto Miroku's shoulder. "Have you seen him?"

The teen grinned. "Calm your fears. He's been here. Looked a bit battered though. You got into a fight?"

Shippou nodded. "Hiten tried to kill me, but Inuyasha protected me."

"Hiten…" Sango looked thoughtful. "Isn't he one of the Thunder Brothers?"

"Yeah… Manten was killed when they murdered my parents. Inuyasha killed Hiten just now."

Kagome gasped in shock. "Someone killed your parents?"

Shippou looked at her strangely. "It's not that big a deal. Most street kids are orphans."

Sango looked awkward, and Miroku nodded. "I take it you are not from around here."

Kagome shook her head. "No… I've got a project to do, on homeless people, for school. I was hoping you'd help? I'd pay you in return for your time."

"I'll gladly help you," Sango stuck out her hand for Kagome to shake. "I never thought I'd say it, but I miss school."

Both looked at Miroku, who shrugged. "Don't look at me, I've never been to school. My master taught me how to read and write before he died. That's all I know. I'll help, though."

Kagome grinned. "Great. Say, does anyone want to help me eat my lunch? Mum always packs _way_ too much stuff."

"Real food?" Sango asked. (She had been unable to find anything for breakfast.)

"Yup, real food."

Kagome pulled out a picnic blanket and her lunch.

"Dig in!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Inuyasha looked down at them from the rooftops.

_It really does look like they belong together._

As his stomach growled, he shot off to find some food too.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

OK – not exactly plot-happy, but I've had so many problems writing this chapter that I'm quite pleased with it. (And it's over 1000 words more than I usually write!)

I'll try to update quicker next time!

CN.


	5. Friends are the family we choose

Once again, my thanks to you guys who reviewed… Darking Queen, Spaceekitty, Cold Kikyo and Jamie.

(And… Jamie, thanks you so much… I'm such an idiot! I STILL have typos! My computer did not like "themself" at all though! And... yeah, I did mean pike. Hiten uses it in ep10)

Sorry for the (very) late update. Life (and homework) finally caught up with me. (Stupid Macbeth essay…)

But now my life isn't so hectic, I have more time for writing. Yey!

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. Whatsoever. Besides the plot, that is. Sadly. I don't even own the title. It's a quote.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 4**

**Friends are the family we choose.**

Monday.

Kagome groaned as she got out of bed. If she had to pick a day she hated, it was Monday. For several reasons.

Firstly, she had school, and had to get up early. Second, she _always _left at least one thing behind on a Monday; it was like the family joke. And third, it always seemed to rain on Mondays in winter.

Like now.

She could still hear it as she lay in bed, fighting against her sluggish body, trying to make it get up. Souta was already awake, and she assumed that her grandfather was up too, along with her mother.

"Kagomeeeee!" Yup. Souta was definitely up.

With a sigh she got out of bed and got changed before hurrying downstairs for breakfast.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The rain had slackened somewhat as she plodded gloomily to school, hoping she had everything. She had checked her bag… all of her homework was there, and her books… so maybe she had actually got everything!

Her hopes were dashed as her little brother dashed out of the house behind her carrying her lunch.

_Oh well. There's always next week._

"So squirt, ready for another week?" Kagome grinned at her sibling.

"Yup, you bet!" There was a pause as Kagome shifted her umbrella and her bag to get comfortable.

"Will I get to meet your new friends?" Kagome looked at him in surprise.

"New friends…?"

"You know, those street kids you met. They sound really cool."

"Oh."

"Like you said about that little youkai, that he's really jumpy and…" Souta looked excited, for some unfathomable reason.

"I wouldn't say Shippou's _jumpy. _Say… active, maybe." Kagome smiled, remembering the kitsune's concern for his friend.

"Whatever. Anyway, you said that you met two more yesterday, didn't you? Will you see them again?"

"I guess, I'm going back there today after school."

They were interrupted by a shout.

"Souta! Souta!" The boy grinned as he spied his friends across the road.

"Better go! See ya sis!"

Kagome blinked as he vanished. She shrugged and continued walking.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

She was hailed by her own friends on arriving. Eri, Yuka and Ayumi looked glad to see her – now they could get out of talking to Eri's little sister, Mali.

"Kagome!"

"Yo!"

"How are you?"

Kagome grinned. _They never change, do they?_

Aloud, she said: "Hey guys. I'm great, you?"

"We're packing to go to Spain, the whole house is a total tip!" Yuka replied, sounding thrilled about it.

"Great…" Kagome couldn't really see how packing was that exciting, but still…

She was saved from having to think of a decent reply by the arrival of a table, being carried by…

"Hojo! What are you doing with that thing?" Kagome asked, surprised.

"Exams in the hall," Hojo explained, panting and hoisting the table in question up a little higher. "They need this there…"

"Oh." Comprehension dawned on Kagome. "Well, at least let me open the doors for you!"

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi all started whispering. Kagome shot them a dirty look and flounced to the door to open it. Hojo, table now carried around head level, followed.

_Why do they always do that? _Kagome asked herself, frustrated. _Always. I can't talk to Hojo as a friend without them whispering!_

She held the door open, exasperated, and completely failed to notice that Hojo was carrying the table a little too high and couldn't see what he was doing…

_Thwack._

"Hojo!"

The table had hit the doorframe and bounced into Hojo's nose. He put the table down and clutched his nose in surprise or pain; Kagome wasn't sure.

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi hurried over, and Kagome picked up the table herself and made a run for it, to her friends' comments about Hojo's injury:

"Oh! It's so swollen!"

"Hojo, your nose looks like a tomato!"

"It's dot dat bag, reeggy!"

"What did he say?"

Kagome felt that the end of the day could not come fast enough.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Miroku was tinkering with something in the corner of the old market square. Sango, bored and hungry after a meagre breakfast of some bread from the previous day, wandered over. Shippou had opted to stay the night, and he was peacefully curled up with Kirara in a corner. It was drizzling again, but the square was sheltered and it was barely raining inside. Still, winter's chill made Sango clutch her coat tighter around her thin frame as she crossed the rubbish-strewn floor.

Miroku hardly looked up when Sango came behind him. She discovered, to her surprise, that he was actually drawing, using an old notebook and a pencil he had got from somewhere.

_He's not bad actually! _Sango noted with astonishment. Miroku's hand was steady and firm, and a drawing was slowly coming to light, a drawing of…

"That's you and me!" Miroku looked around with surprise. He hadn't noticed her come over.

"Yes…" The teen hesitantly held the book away so the girl could get a better look.

The picture, clearer from a distance, depicted Sango wearing a long pink dress and a white ribbon in her hair, Miroku standing behind her wearing simple black trousers and a navy blue shirt, and Kirara purring in Sango's arms.

"Wow…" _'Not bad!' Who was I kidding! That's AMAZING! _It was safe to say that Sango was shocked.

Miroku, uncomfortable drawing with the street-girl over his shoulder, placed the notebook within his long black coat and stood up. Sango, disappointed at first, shrugged it off.

_I'll quiz him later._

Miroku looked at his old watch, surprised at the time – it was almost eleven. "Come on, shall we go for a wander?"

Sango grinned. "You bet."

Kirara and Shippou did not stir as the two friends went past them. Miroku shrugged; Sango scratched a note on the wall. She didn't know about Shippou, but Kirara could read.

Covering the sleeping youkai up with a blanket, Miroku and Sango left the junkyard that Miroku called home and set out onto the streets again.

It felt good to get out. Miroku stretched as they walked, feeling grateful for the rain since it made sure people stayed in their houses. He remained silent for a few minutes, lost in thought.

Sango was also pleased to get out, and carelessly brushed her hair out of her face while looking around.

The two wandered around for about an hour before the rain picked up. At this point both felt it would be prudent to return to the market.

On the return journey, they passed an art shop. Miroku glanced into the window casually, and continued walking – but not before Sango had seen the longing in his eyes. She hurried to catch up as his long-legged stride got faster.

"Where'd you learn to draw?" She asked suddenly.

Miroku made no answer.

"Earth to Miroku!" The teen blinked to find Sango waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oh… sorry Sango. What was the question?"

"Where'd you learn to draw?" The girl repeated, curious.

"My master… to earn money I drew portraits of people in fates and things like that. I guess I've had a lot of practice."

Sango, remembering the picture he had drawn, nodded.

_A lot of practice and a lot of talent._

_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>._

_Shippou ran around, excitedly. It was such a wonderful day! He was in a field near a river and the weather was gorgeous - not a cloud in the sky. He had a ball in his hands, and close by was the biggest amount of candy he had ever seen. _

_However, as he tried to run to it, a hand took hold of his shoulder. _

"_Shippou! Shippou!_" _The kitsune struggled against the voice._

"_Let me go!"_

"_Wake up runt!"_

Shippou opened his eyes.

"Wake up!" Inuyasha repeated, irritated. It was him who had been shaking the little youkai.

"Inuyasha!" Shippou threw himself at the silver-haired teen. "You're OK!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The hanyou shook his head in disbelief, and then winced as Shippou gave him a friendly hug, hitting his shoulder.

He slammed his fist down onto Shippou's head. Not hard, but enough to make him let go. "Ow…" he grunted, moving the shoulder in question around.

"Sorry Inuyasha!"

"Don't matter." The hanyou looked the fox over. "You didn't get hurt yesterday?"

"Nope! I'm fine."

"Good. Then you won't mind if I do this." Inuyasha knocked the youkai ears over tail.

"What was that for?" Shippou asked indignantly.

"For being an idiot yesterday and allowing Hiten to follow you!"

"Oh." Knowing Inuyasha as long as he had, Shippou knew that this was Inuyasha's way of showing that he had been worried.

It was at this point that Sango and Miroku entered the scene after their walk. Immediately, the hanyou shot upwards, looking at Sango suspiciously, and jumped backwards, ready to run.

"Stay Inuyasha," Miroku held up a hand. "She will not harm you."

"Who says she's gonna harm me?" The hanyou demanded. "As if she could land a punch on me!"

Shippou tugged on his sleeve. "She's really nice, Inuyasha."

Sango could only blink at the arrival of the dog-eared teen. Having been away the previous day, she had never seen him properly. (The time they ran into each other didn't count).

Dark eyes met gold ones as the two sized each other up. Then, Inuyasha nodded at Sango, flashed a quick "bye" at Miroku, dumped Shippou on the floor and shot off.

"So, that was Inuyasha?" Sango asked, breaking the silence that had followed.

"Yes." Miroku frowned. "I don't understand why he was so hostile though. He's not normally like that around humans."

Shippou picked himself up. "He was probably cross that you guys came in. You know what he's like about showing how he feels."

"True," Miroku acknowledged. Seeing Sango's questioning look, he added: "He's almost like a brother to Shippou."

"Ah." Sango turned her head to the sky for a second in memory of her own brother, caught in the fire that terrible night a year ago. Then, she firmly brought her thoughts back to the present. Miroku did not know what had happened; the last thing she needed were awkward questions.

"So, what's for lunch?" Shippou asked perkily. The teens exchanged looks.

"Nothing." Sango admitted. "We found absolutely nothing when we went out."

"Not a crumb." Miroku sighed. "I guess that we will have to miss out today."

Shippou gloomily accepted the lack of food. Then, jumped in the trash heap on the far side of the square.

"Do they have any balls in here?"

Miroku blinked as even his tail vanished into the junk.

"He's going to make himself ill from the smell," Sango remarked.

_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_

_Come on bell… ring! _

Kagome stared at the clock on the wall, willing the lesson to go faster. Fifteen minutes. A short time.

With a maths teacher lecturing you on Pythagoras' theorem? Yeah right.

Eri, Yuka, Ayumi and Kagome were sitting on the back table pretending to look interested. In reality Kagome was desperately trying to escape the others' whispers, which were at irregular intervals.

"Come on, you said you met a new friend. It's got to be a boy."

"Yeah, and you said that you were going to see your friends after school!"

"Is he cute?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Guys, I told you. There're three of them. One's a kid, younger than my brother. The others are a bit older than us, and one's a girl."

"So, is the guy cute?"

"Are you dating?"

"No! He's okay looking…"

"How'd you meet him?"

_Groan. _"Remember that project that Mrs. Kaede set us? They're all homeless."

That seemed to repulse her friends somewhat. "Ew. You are NOT dating a dosser."

_Here we go again! _"No. We're friends. They're all really nice people. Well… the kid's a youkai, but he's _so_ cute… Anyway, they're on the streets because they don't have any family to take them in. Is that their fault?" She asked, a bit defensive.

"I bet they're lying. I bet they've been kicked out of their houses because they drink…"

"Do they do drugs?" Eri wanted to know.

The bell finally saved Kagome. "No!" She firmly packed her bag shut and sped out of the classroom.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The four had arranged to meet up as soon as Kagome got out of school. So, the raven-haired girl headed over to Miroku's market place with a happy smile on her face.

_Finally! Friends who don't expect me to conform to rules… that will accept me for who I am._

On arrival, a fur ball greeted her. Shippou flung himself on her, almost knocking her over.

Sango caught her before she did actually fall, and the teen straightened herself up.

"Hey guys!" Kagome looked them over again. Miroku looked pale and tired, and Sango looked bedraggled. Even Shippou seemed to be lacking energy.

Kirara wound her warm furry body around Kagome's legs. _She _seemed unaffected.

Miroku shook off the strange feeling that had come over him, and walked up to Kagome, smiling.

"Let me take your bag," he commented. Kagome blinked at him. "Thanks Miroku, but I need it, I think."

"Project!" Sango hit herself on the head. "Sorry, I forgot."

Kagome grinned. "Its fine. Actually, I was thinking. You guys are such great people, I'd much rather get to know you before I do that annoying project."

"Really?" Shippou looked delighted.

Kagome picked him up. "Really."

With that, the four and Kirara found the driest corner of the area and made themselves comfortable. Kagome wanted to really be able to call these people/youkai her friends.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome continued to visit during the week, and by Friday, she had really started to enjoy visiting her new friends.

Miroku was like an older brother. Funny… a bit of a flirt, but kind and caring. Kagome loved the way he could turn almost anything around. Miroku enjoyed Kagome's tales of school life.

Sango… she was the sister and best friend Kagome had never had. The two were inseparable. The younger girl looked up to the street-teen, who had far more life experience. In turn, Sango looked forward to the schoolgirl's visits because they always seemed to brighten up any day.

Shippou loved Kagome's visits, and always ran to greet her. He really liked the way she treated life. Kagome adored Shippou's innocence and youth.

If an onlooker had seen them, they might have thought that they _were _family. The family that each one had chosen.

>

>

Gulp. Well… my writer's block dissipated as I was writing this. I daresay it'll find its was back just as I start the next chapter.

It's Easter holidays next week, so I _should #_crosses fingers# have more time to write then!

Oh, and the table thing really happened to this boy I know… funniest thing you ever saw; his nose went a sort of purple (like a beetroot).Of course, I felt really guilty immediately after, since _I _was the one who was holding the door open!

CN.


	6. A day out

OK! I have 20 reviews. That's a record for me! Thanks you guys, Jamie, Lonelylulaby, Cold Kikyo, Inuyasha05 and priestessmykala.

Jamie… thanks again. I'm afraid that I don't speak American English, which means that "Maths" is the way I say it, but the rest are changed.

One day, I will manage a chapter without mistakes. But I don't think it'll be any time soon. So, this chapter's for you.

Disclaimer: Being in the current financial situation that I am, I can't even afford a CD, let alone Inuyasha.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 5**

**A day out.**

"It's Saturday!" Kagome announced to her friends as she skipped through the archway that lead to the closed-down market.

The sun was shining weakly, and the sky was clear. It was one of those days that made it seem like spring was on the way, despite it actually being the start of winter. That faint sense of excitement was in the air now for sure, since it was just over a month until Christmas. And Kagome was ready to help her new friends feel a little hope in life.

Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kirara all blinked with surprise at the girl – they had grown so used to her in her school uniform that to see her in a navy blue skirt and a pink jumper was somewhat of a shock for them. The pink necklace she always wore matched perfectly, and her eyes were shining.

Kagome looked around at the four others in the market place. Miroku was doodling on a piece of paper in a corner; Kirara was playing with a ball of wool from somewhere. Sango was apparently teaching Shippou how to tell the time – a feat that was proving somewhat difficult since all they had to work with was an old dustbin lid with numbers scratched into it. Kagome guessed it was better than telling him to count the chimes.

Shippou broke the startled silence - that had commenced with Kagome's entrance - with a giant whoop of joy.

"Does this mean that you don't have school today Kagome?"

Sango got up and stretched her aching muscles. "That's right. And I bet she doesn't have school tomorrow either."

"Nope!" Kagome grinned. "Two days free of that prison."

"In what way is school a prison?" Miroku got up too and stood behind Shippou. Immediately the little youkai jumped onto the teen's shoulder.

"In that you have to go there and work, even if you don't like what you do." Kagome shuddered at the horrors of her P.E. class.

"At least you get that chance," Miroku pointed out. "I've never been to any sort of school before."

"Really?" Sango looked puzzled. "Yet you can read and write and do maths?"

"Thank my master for that." the teen replied wryly.

"Kagome, what are you doing?" Shippou peered over Miroku's shoulder at the schoolgirl, who was frantically scribbling away in a notebook.

"Writing down points of interest for my project. I've got to get it done."

The others blinked at each other.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Inuyasha roamed the streets, annoyed. Unlike most people, he did not like this weather. It brought humans out and that usually meant he went hungry.

Today however, was slightly different. Having found an abandoned fast-food meal on the street floor, still in wrappings and untouched, he had feasted and was now contented in that respect.

What annoyed him was that all of his so-called friends had seemingly vanished. Take Shippou. He had only seen him briefly after fighting Hiten – and not at all after that. Now he had no one around to annoy.

"Hey, Dog-shit!" Wait, take that last thought back.

"Yeah, Wolf-turd?" Inuyasha turned around in mid stride to see the wolf youkai, Kouga.

The wolf had piercing blue eyes and mid-length black hair fastened into a tight ponytail on the top of his head. He sported a brown headband and a tank top made of wolf armour. As was traditional for wolf kind, he also wore a furry brown skirt and long brown leg warmers. Youkai had no need for shoes.

At the present moment in time the canine was glaring at his rival, arms folded. Inuyasha did not try to strike him; that would leave him eating dust, as he had learned from bitter experience. Kouga was fast.

"Well?" He asked roughly.

"You're in my territory." Inuyasha looked Kouga in the eye with some surprise, then looked around.

_Crap! And I am! I must have crossed to the youkai side of town without realising it. Not that I'd ever tell Kouga that…_

Outwardly, Inuyasha forced a lazy smile onto his face. "Yeah. I am. And I'm going to go back to mine. Got a problem with that?"

Kouga swished his long brown tail menacingly. "Get out, half-breed."

"Kouga, Kouga…" the wolf turned to the girl who had appeared behind him. She was evidently a wolf too, with long red hair and dazzling green eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing." Kouga turned back, satisfied that Inuyasha was gone. He left.

Inuyasha crept out from an alley, resisting the childish urge to stick his tongue out.

_Jerk._

He set off to the human side of town.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Finished!" Kagome announced as she put the pen and notebook away in her rather large bag.

The others continued to look at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You… never mind." Miroku managed a half smile. "What were you planning to do today then?"

"Well, I need to go shopping."

Sango smiled at her. "I hope that you have a good time."

"And you're coming with me."

There was silence.

Then…

"What?"

Kagome beamed. _They didn't say "no" straight off… that's good, right?_

"I bet you haven't been shopping for years. Right?"

Sango looked at the floor. "Well…"

"You'll enjoy it!"

Miroku, having never really been shopping before, tried to get himself out of it. He looked down at his raggedy clothes with some consternation. "I don't know about Sango, but I _look _homeless. That means that shops don't like me."

"I thought of that!" Kagome produced a pile of clothes from her bag. "I brought some clothes with me, that you can wear." She handed them out to the people she had picked them for, and Shippou.

Sango held hers up and smiled. "I'd love to help you do your shopping."

Miroku groaned. "So would I."

Shippou piped up. "How do I get into these?" The three teens looked down at him in surprise as he sat down with a thump, tangled in a jumper.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Twenty minutes later the group was ready to go. Shippou was dressed in a white jumper and blue jeans – they had belonged to Souta, but that didn't really bother the little youkai.

Sango looked good in a pink top and red skirt. Kagome had also attacked her hair with a brush. Despite the pain, it was good for Sango to be able to run her fingers through it once again.

Miroku was not quite so happy in his new clothes. They had belonged to Kagome's father, and fitted him, but they felt stiff somehow. His attire consisted of a light blue shirt and light brown trousers. His hair had also been brushed.

Kagome surveyed her handiwork, satisfied. Now, the three looked ordinary – or, at least as ordinary as she could get Shippou.

"Come on!" Kirara stayed put and meowed a goodbye as the four left to explore the shops of London.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sango had originally thought that Kagome was shopping for herself and that she, Miroku, and Shippou would help Kagome choose what she bought. Unfortunately, she was mistaken. Kagome had given each of them twenty pounds and was taking them around all the shops, asking them what they wanted to buy.

Miroku had never seen so many things on one shelf. He had never had so much money to spend on things for _him_ either. He was content to sit back a bit and watch Kagome show Shippou the toys on the shelves of the children's shops.

At the current moment in time, they were inside a shop that sold little trinkets, useless, but fun. Shippou had bought a spinning top and Sango was admiring a mood-ring. For himself, the teen didn't particularly want such trinkets.

"Miroku, look at this!" Sango had really gotten into the idea of buying for herself, the teen noted with a smile.

He looked at it with appreciation. A little necklace, gold and silver with a heart at the end.

"It's very pretty." He looked at the price: £30. Nope. Not enough money.

Sango shrugged. "Never mind. I've got something better than that." She looked him straight in the eye, with a little pink staining her cheeks.

"Oh?" Miroku raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter," Sango ducked behind her fringe to hide her blush.

_Tell me I am not falling in love with this jerk! He flirts with everyone! And tell me I did not just say that!_

Fortunately for the girl, Miroku was clueless as to what she had been about to say and turned his attention to the wall behind him, bedecked with fridge magnets.

_I suppose they look good on fridges. _He mused.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

All parties ranked the day a success, as they all walked home, somewhat laden down by bags.

Kagome had purchased some clothes, a CD, and a book, which she said was for Souta.

Sango carried a cheap dress and a brush. She had also bought some food.

Miroku had used some of his money to buy some paints and pencils, along with decent paper. The rest he was saving for a rainy day, so to speak.

Shippou came home with some spinning tops, a watch, and a large ball. Miroku sensed that this might be a bad thing later on. For now, it was just amusing to see the little kitsune chase the big red monster around and try to keep a hold on the spinning tops.

Once in the market, Miroku looked around for his clothes. Kagome had to get back home for tea, and he planned on returning the garments to her before then. However…

"Keep the clothes!" Kagome waved cheerfully.

"What?" Miroku looked at himself in surprise. "But, they're yours!"

"Nope. I want you to have them, in case we do this again."

Miroku looked down at the shirt and trousers in approval. He made a mental note to keep these in a safe place.

Sango threw herself on Kagome, along with Shippou.

"Thank you!"

"No probs!" Kagome's eyes widened as she caught sight of Shippou's watch.

"I'M LATE!" and with that, she shot out of the alley.

Miroku came up behind Sango.

"I get the feeling we'll see a lot more of her."

Sango nodded, and then froze.

"LETCH!"

Shippou looked down at the twitching teen, who sported a large red handprint on his cheek.

"He'll never learn."

Kirara wandered over and sat next to the kitsune. "Meow."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Miroku wandered out of the marketplace and looked up at the sky. The moon was waning now, and the only real light came from the stars in the clear winter sky and the dim streetlamps on the alleyway, half of which were not working.

He had been having problems sleeping - the cold weather no doubt - and so, covering Sango with his blanket, he had chosen to wander and muse before trying to get back to sleep.

Their new clothes had been carefully folded and placed in a bag in a crevice in one of the old houses, meaning that the teen was once again in his loose blue and black clothes. Unfortunately, this meant that he was slightly cold.

He wandered down a narrow side street, lost in thought. In fact, he was so lost in thought he didn't notice the figure huddled against a wall until he tripped over it.

"Ooof!" Miroku landed in a heap, but got to his feet quickly, reflexes kicking in.

"What the hell was that for?" The figure he had tripped over came into the light of a lamppost, silver hair glinting in the dark.

"Sorry Inuyasha."

"Feh. You were lucky it was me and not some other youkai."

"So it seems." The two looked away from each other for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say.

"So, who's this Sango person then?" Unexpectedly, Inuyasha broke the silence first.

"Huh?" Miroku snapped himself out of a daydream.

"Who's Sango?" Inuyasha asked again.

"She's homeless, like us" the teen paused, thinking of a phrase to use. "I don't know how – she won't say. She's… guarded about her past."

"Aren't we all." The hanyou looked away for a second.

"How's Shippou?" Miroku grinned, glad that the darkness concealed it. The hanyou cared for that fox, whether he admitted it or not.

"He's fine. How're you?" The human teen looked at the half-demon, noting the slight droop in his ears that conveyed tiredness. It was something that one lived with, on the streets.

"Oh, great. Real great." Miroku laughed aloud at the sarcasm.

"What're you laughing at?" Inuyasha scowled.

"Just glad that you're Inuyasha. That's all."

The silver-haired boy cocked an ear. "Feh."

There was a pause, then Inuyasha looked at Miroku.

"Who's the girl who visits you?"

The teen looked surprised for a second, since he had not seen Inuyasha spying on them.

"She's called Kagome, and is gathering information for school. However, she also wants to befriend us."

Inuyasha snorted. "You, you mean. She'd never befriend me."

"You'd be surprised. She has a giving nature."

Inuyasha looked upwards and for a moment the stars were reflected in his golden eyes. "She has a… familiar aura. I don't know how to describe it."

"She's Kagome. Don't describe it, accept it."

The hanyou eyed the teen long and hard.

"I think I will."

Then he was gone.

Feeling slightly tired, Miroku headed back to the market place to try and get some sleep.

Talking was good sometimes.

>

>

For those of you that care, there's about $2 to £1, maybe slightly less than that.

>

OK. This took longer that I expected, but at least I appear to have lost the writer's block now… touch wood.

Say, has anyone got any ideas about how to include Sesshomaru in this? I have a place for everyone else bar him, Jaken and Rin… and I like Sesshy!

R 'n' r, please!

CN.


	7. Nothing is lost forever

Thank you those people who reviewed! Cold Kikyo: Here's the chapter!

Jamie, thanks so much! Evil commas… and typos… (both fixed now, thanks to you)...my brain works faster than my hands.

And Inuyasha05, thank you too for the suggestions. Between you two, I have a storyline for Sesshy and Rin! And Inu and Kags meet very soon…

Disclaimer: I own zilch!

As a side note, for those who care about continuity, I changed the time that Kagome has to do her project to three months, not two. She has to hand it in in February now.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 6**

**Nothing is lost forever…**

The chill night was growing old, though dawn was still far off. Most people were asleep in their beds, or on the streets getting as much sleep as they could manage.

Bar one.

The girl ran and ran, as fast as her legs could carry her. Her orange and yellow dress, thin for the time of year, was ripped and tattered and her long black hair was currently tangled.

She ducked into an alley, and sat very still, trying to calm her frantic breathing. Her dark eyes were bright with fear and she trembled uncontrollably.

Meet Rin, the silent girl.

She shut her eyes, trying to take in what had happened in the fading light last evening.

_Rin walked along the street, looking for something to eat. Passers-by stared at her, some pitifully, others merely turning their noses up. _

_Rin ignored them. She had been alone for eight years now, parentless and practically penniless too. She had her little 'home', a deserted flat in one of the shabbiest areas of the city, complete with furniture that she had struggled to bring there herself after her parents had vanished. _

_Unfortunately, Rin was so deep in thought; she didn't notice the youkai looking at her hungrily._

"_Let's get her." _

_The first thing she knew of the attack was that there were long sharp teeth sunk deep into her arm. Giving a choked gasp Rin shook the wolf off her arm and started running._

_The wolf pack followed, manic red eyes glinting evilly as they chased their prey. No human did anything; they didn't want anything to do with it. They just walked on by, or watched the orphaned teenager running away._

_Far away._

_And as long as she was there, she didn't matter. _

Rin regarded her arm critically. The gash was deep and long; blood leaked out in a steady stream and showed no sign of stopping. If she were not careful, then she would bleed to death. That was, if the youkai did not smell the blood first. Better to keep moving. Like she had all night.

She crept out of the alley, ducking behind an old crate. Always small for her age, and thin, she looked like an orphaned waif.

There was no sound, so, her confidence boosted, Rin stood up behind the crate. She was in the youkai part of town now; she needed to get back to humanity.

Unfortunately, she did not know where that was.

In the parts of youkai London that she had been to, the houses were of different shapes and sizes, to accommodate the many types of youkai that there were. They were clean and many smelt fresh, like pollution had never been. There were no cars on the youkai side of the city – too many sensitive noses there.

Here, however, looked like a slum. The buildings were falling down and mouldering. No one had bothered to pick up the rubble that had fallen, and there was a nasty smell of dampness.

Rin turned around… just in time to see her pursuers. Three wolf youkai stood in the entrance to the alleyway, teeth bared in a feral snarl. One leaped forwards, closely followed by the other two.

_Not good!_

Terrified, clutching her arm, she ripped off the front of her crate and smashed it in the attacking wolves. Not pausing to see what damage she had done she ran as fast as she could down the street.

She was lost, yet she carried on going, fear forcing her to keep moving. Nothing seemed familiar, each dingy alley seemed the same as the last.

Her vision started blurring.

_Can't… breath…_

She had lost too mush blood from the bite in her arm. With the last of her strength she stumbled into a lane, vision now so blurry she could not see.

Something caught her; warm arms wrapped themselves around her weary body. Too exhausted to struggle, she let herself be picked up.

"Human, what are you doing in my territory?" a feral voice growled from above her.

Rin shook her head. The silent girl did not talk.

She was shaken by whoever held her.

"Answer me!"

Dazed and confused, her body gave out and she lay still, unable to move.

"I say that you should kill her, master."

"I am… curious to how this human found this place, and what she was running from. I shall spare her."

Rin gave herself up to the darkness.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome skipped a step, pink jewelled necklace flying as she did so. Saturdays had become one of her favourite days recently.

_It's hard to think that I've known Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara for a month now!_

It was now December. One month of project time gone, and less than a month until the Christmas holidays.

_I can't wait! _Kagome thought happily. _Two weeks without school. Two weeks with my new friends!_

She was heading to the old market place (nothing new there) early since she didn't have any homework. She was meant to be revising for a maths test… but scrap that. It could wait until later.

Kagome frowned as she approached the old red archway. It was very quiet. Shippou was normally louder than this.

_What time is it again? _

She looked at her watch and groaned. Five past nine. She had misread her clock again… she had thought it was quarter to ten when she left the house… but it must have been ten to nine.

_That explains the lack of noise. They're all asleep!_

Not quite true.

As Kagome stood there, deliberating what to do, Sango appeared in front if her.

Kagome blinked. "You're awake?"

Sango blinked back. "How much sleep do you think we get in this weather?" she asked, genuinely surprised how innocent Kagome was. "I've been awake since about five."

"But what time did you get to sleep?"

"About…" Sango considered. "For me, about one."

"Oh."

Kagome didn't really know what to say.

An idea came to her. "I know! In the Christmas holidays, I can ask if you can stay a few nights!"

Sango hid a smile with difficulty. In her experience, people who offered things compulsively didn't carry them out. "Come in."

The schoolgirl looked around once inside. Shippou was nowhere to be seen. Kagome asked where he was.

"He's looking for breakfast," Sango explained. "Miroku and I are skipping, but that's no reason for Shippou not to eat."

"I might have food in here…" Kagome swung her bag off her shoulders and started rummaging.

"Don't." Kagome looked up, hands and half her arms buried in her huge rucksack, into Sango's serious eyes. "You've given us so much already."

Kagome retrieved her arms and straightened, clicking her back in the process. "I don't have any anyway." She gloomily admitted.

Sango couldn't help but laugh at the look on Kagome's face. "Come on, what do you want to do?"

Kagome sighed. "I _need _to do this project. I don't want to, but since the others aren't here…" she looked around. "Where _is _everyone, anyway?"

"Miroku went to help Shippou and maybe sell something. Kirara went out with them."

"Ah."

With that, Sango produced a blanket for both girls to sit on, to keep Kagome's pretty blue dress clean, and they started on Kagome's project.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kirara turned up about half an hour later, soaking wet and shivering. Sango groaned and grabbed an old towel from Miroku's little shelter.

"She sometimes gets pushed into the Thames when she's fishing," the homeless teen explained as she rubbed at her very grumpy cat. "Kids think its fun."

Kagome pulled a little of some slimy river-plant out of Kirara's fur. "That's one way to have a bath!"

"I fell in once," Sango remembered. "Off my father's boat. When they fished me out, I was blacker than I had started."

Kagome giggled at the thought of the dignified Sango falling off a boat. "You probably looked like a chimney sweep!"

"Probably!"

The girls rubbed the irritated neko together, talking and giggling occasionally as they did so.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"What are you doing?" Kagome jumped at the sound of the voice.

Shippou stood behind her, next to Miroku, who was looking somewhat amused at the sight of Kirara, mostly dry, with her fur fluffed out from the vigorous rubbing the girls had given her.

"Kirara fell into the river again," Sango stood up and groaned. "My knees are killing."

The cat in question gave a loud "meow" and shook herself, fur falling back into place.

"Find breakfast?" Sango asked her fellows.

"Yup. A donut." Shippou wiped the crumbs from his mouth.

Miroku shrugged. "Nothing for me. No one is out this time of the morning with money to spare."

Shippou looked at his watch. "Yeah… it's ten o clock." He said proudly.

"And shoppers don't come out until about eleven," Miroku added gloomily.

"Smile Miroku!" Sango said, while stretching her legs. "You look like a wet blanket!"

She chucked the towel at him.

It caught the teen in the face and then dropped off, leaving him spluttering. He chucked it back.

"Take that back!"

Kagome couldn't help laughing.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Cool red eyes observed the scene below.

_Now is the time. _

She kept her gaze fixed on the girl in the blue dress.

_You're mine._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

All five froze at the voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Humans and youkai, together? As friends? Ha."

A woman appeared, jumping down from the roof. No, not a woman, Kagome realised. A youkai.

Baleful, but beautiful red eyes stared out of a pale face that ended with a pointed chin. Glossy brown hair was tied back in a high ponytail. The woman, tall and thin, carried a large fan and was wearing a long floaty dress of red and white.

"Who are you?" Miroku stepped protectively in front of the girls and Shippou.

"I am Kagura, the wind sorceress." The woman stepped forwards. "And I have come to claim the Shikon jewel for my master."

"Shikon jewel?" Kagome asked, frightened but determined not to show it.

"You jest, little girl." Kagura looked at the teen standing so defiantly in front of her.

"Nope. No jest. What are you talking about?" Kagome in turn glared at the wind sorceress.

"The jewel you carry around your neck!"

Kagura held her fan straight, pointing it at Kagome.

"Dance of blades." She said in a clear, low voice.

All at one, sharp streaks of light came out of the fan, aiming at the schoolgirl. Sango didn't stop to think.

"Duck!" She yelled, forcing Kagome and Shippou down. The blades flew harmlessly over their heads.

Miroku, who had dodged to the side and into his sleeping area, emerged with an ancient staff, that of a monk. "I don't know who you are, but the Shikon jewel has been lost for years."

Kagura narrowed her eyes. "Things that are lost can always be found again."

She performed her attack again, only to be blocked by Miroku's staff. Both the girls noted that he was very good with it.

Sango got up from the floor, and grabbed the small boomerang she had salvaged from her bag when she had first met Miroku.

Kagome rolled over onto her back as one of the blades Miroku had failed to block danced over the space where her head had been.

_That was too close!_

She looked for a weapon, and found herself by the rubbish heap, near an… archery set?

_What the hell is that doing there? **Waiting** for me? _She hesitated. _Better than nothing._

The set contained an old, battered bow and a few arrows, most with the tips missing. Kagome picked it up and felt a thrill of recognition at the feel of the tattered and torn handle.

_This is even weirder._

Kagura gave a shrill whistle and about ten other youkai appeared, glowing ethereally.

Kagome stood up and fitted arrow to bow.

Sango narrowed her eyes. Her boomerang whizzed through the air, cutting through three of the youkai. They exploded a moment later.

Miroku flung himself at the remaining youkai, flailing around with his staff.

Kirara did the same, but was flung backwards and into the rubbish pile, where she was buried.

Kagome drew her bow, aiming for the closest enemy – the yellow snake that was about to strike Miroku's back. She released her arrow.

The arrow flared with a pink light and struck the youkai in the heart, creating a mini-explosion as the snake disintegrated.

Kagura whistled again, using her blade attack on Sango. The teen performed a few impressive manoeuvres to dodge them, but was too slow for one.

"Aaack!" The blade sliced her shoulder. Sango took a step backwards, grimacing at the sudden pain.

"Sango!" Miroku turned sharply around, to find more youkai leering evilly at him.

_Damn! I can't use my cursed hand – there's too many of them! What do I do?_

Kagome fired her remaining arrows, taking out a few more youkai. Each arrow burnt with that pink fire.

"Hey!" Everyone froze at the sight of the newcomer, a silver haired hanyou with dog-ears. Behind him stood Shippou, looking worriedly at the three teens stuck there.

Inuyasha surveyed the scene with distaste, amber eyes narrowed. Shippou had run for help and had found the hanyou not far away. Inuyasha had been happy to help. He hated seeing anyone in trouble. And protecting these humans helped ease the weight of guilt - that he couldn't protect Kikyo when she needed it most.

Now, he stepped forwards, drawing his sword. Tetsusaiga immediately transformed into the legendary fang.

Inuyasha took a few seconds to frown at it. Tetsusaiga never did that! It had only transformed like that for one person… and she was dead…

He turned his attention back to the fight.

"Why don't you ever pick on someone your own size." It was not a question.

"Why, if it isn't little Inuyasha." Kagura mocked him. "Come to try and save another human, have you?"

Inuyasha jumped clear of her attack and sliced through the youkai that had surrounded him. They didn't even have time for a death scream.

Kagura eyed him, for a moment. "We will meet again, little hanyou."

She held up a hand and the scene filled with smoke. Everyone in the market place was forced to close their eyes to protect them. By the time the smoke had cleared, Kagura was nowhere to be seen on the ground.

Inuyasha stared at the youkai as she flew off on a white feather, her mode of transport.

"Oh, yes, we will."

He turned to the humans. "Why the hell do I sense the Shikon no Tama?"

There was silence.

>

>

There you go. My feeble attempt at a cliffy.

OK… actually managed to get some plot in there. I feel so proud.

I'll try to update soon!

CN.


	8. A place of safety

xBlinksx Thirty reviews? xFalls off chair.x

Seriously, thank you all you guys who reviewed: Inuyasha05 (Inu's in!), dgsdgh (how do you pronounce that anyway?) Punk Rock Miko2, Ryo-Truesdale Cold Kikyo, Jamie and priestessmykala. (I wasn't intending for it to be a reincarnation story at all… oops…)

As a general note, Inuyasha did not sense the Shikon no Tama before because Kagome always wore it under her clothes and it wasn't visible from a distance, and because her miko powers were dormant, so the jewel was somewhat dormant. Kagura knew where it was since… well, should be explained in either this chapter or the next one! (Thanks for pointing that out Jamie!)

If anyone's still reading the author's notes, then you should know that updates are going to be few and far between since I have exams/coursework, and the joyous Duke of Edinburough award scheme coming up. If I survive them then I have summer exams (groan). I'll post when I can! It doesn't help that this was written yesterday and the server kept timing out…

Disclaimer: Inuyasha me no own.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts or quotes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> . Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 7**

**A place of safety**

Inuyasha stared at the youkai as she flew off on a white feather, her mode of transport.

"Oh, yes, we will."

He turned to the humans. "Why the hell do I sense the Shikon no Tama?"

There was silence.

Miroku stepped forwards, supporting Sango. He eyed the hanyou with a frown. "What are you on about Inuyasha? The Shikon jewel has been lost for years."

Inuyasha looked at the humans again. The street-girl with long brown hair clutching a boomerang, the street-boy dressed in rags carrying a staff. Then there was Shippou, and the neko whom he believed to be called Kirara. And then there was…

He froze.

_Why didn't I see it before! Sure she might look a little different, but it's Kikyo, I'm sure of it. Kikyo, back from the dead…_

"Inuyasha!" Miroku snapped, dragging him out of dream world.

The dog-eared boy shook his mane of hair. "Three years, to be exact. And _she_ was the guardian at the time," he added, looking at Kagome with an almost wistful expression. "Kikyo."

Kagome felt that this had really gone far enough. "What the hell are you talking about? The Shikon no what?"

"Don't play games Kikyo," Inuyasha looked at her. "You know exactly what I mean."

"Inuyasha, I don't think you understand…" Shippou started, but was rudely cut off.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but it's not this Kikyo person you think I am."

Inuyasha blinked. "What?" He used his sensitive nose for the first time during the conversation.

_Aaah. This could be a problem…_

Kagome was in full flow. "I'm not her, because I'm Kagome! Kagome Higurashi! Ka-go-may!"

Inuyasha shoved a hand over her mouth. "Okay, okay. Shut up. We need to get out of here."

Kagome pushed his hand away. "And you expect me to wander off with a stranger?"

Miroku grabbed her hand. "Not meaning to be rude Kagome, but he's no stranger to me, he's called Inuyasha, and I think that we're going to have to trust him."

"Follow me." The hanyou walked out of the market square and into an alleyway.

Miroku and Kagome looked on in surprise as Kirara stopped suddenly and gave a soft "meow". The cat's eyes were questioning as she looked at Sango. The girl, draped across Miroku, nodded slightly.

There was a soft rustle and the air around the neko filled with flames.

"What…." Kagome and Miroku gasped. The fire cleared and a much larger Kirara was left standing there. She rumbled slightly.

Sango forced herself to her feet. "She says to get on."

Miroku eyed the feline uneasily, walking close to her. "Did I know she could do that?"

Sango shrugged. "Probably not. I don't think it ever really came up."

Shippou, who was totally unconcerned, leapt onto Kirara's back. Sango did something similar, by grabbing a chunk of fur with her good arm. She then grabbed Miroku by the waist and hauled him up with Shippou's help.

"Ugh!" Miroku found himself clinging to Kirara's back.

Inuyasha rolled his amber eyes.

"Come on! Wench, you get on too!"

Kagome looked around before realising that the hanyou was addressing her.

"I'm not a wench. My name is…"

"Kagome, I don't think I can keep you and Miroku on." Sango interrupted the tirade before it got properly started.

"Then how…?"

Inuyasha walked over to her and bent down. "Just don't make a habit of it."

Kagome frowned. "Huh?"

Miroku leant over Sango, ensuring he kept a firm grip in Kirara's long fluffy fur.

"Jump on his back!" He mouthed.

Kagome looked at the hanyou and then at the teen. "No way!"

"Kagome, Inuyasha won't drop you. We need to get out of here and help Sango. Please!" Shippou turned the puppy eyes on Kagome.

"OK…" _If it's to help Sango…_

She climbed onto Inuyasha's back.

"Ready?" The hanyou asked Kirara. The neko rumbled again.

"Good."

All heard a whistling noise, and Inuyasha jumped slightly to the left – just as a sword landed point down where he had been standing.

"Let's go!"

Kagome found herself clinging to Inuyasha's red jacket for dear life as the hanyou gave a massive jump and landed on a nearby rooftop. After a quick glance behind to reassure him Kirara was following, Inuyasha put all of his speed to good use, jumping and almost flying from rooftop to rooftop.

Kagome could see the houses beneath her feet and almost shrieked with fright. Then she thought that she might be dropped if she did that and kept her mouth shut.

Inuyasha's silky silver hair blew in her face with the speed they were travelling at and she could feel his strong grip on her legs, which was surprisingly reassuring. As she got used to the speed at which they were travelling, she found herself enjoying the exhilarating motion of Inuyasha's favourite mode of travel.

Kagome wondered who Kikyo was.

_This guy likes her, that's for sure. I wonder if they're dating or something. _

Kagome looked at the sky, reminded for a second of her own boy problems, with Hojo. Looking at the sky gave her a glimpse of something she hadn't really noticed in all the hustle before.

_He has dog-ears! Oh, they're so cute! I really want to… touch them…_

Kagome leant forwards and grabbed an ear, running her fingers gently along the length of the fuzzy article.

Inuyasha stopped abruptly on a chimney pot.

"Get off my ear, wench!" He growled.

Kagome snatched her hand back, remembering just where she was. "Sorry."

They set off again.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After a twenty-minute journey of twists and turns and doubling back to ensure that no youkai could follow them, the teens, Shippou and Kirara arrived at a large house set back from the road a little. What road, Kagome didn't know, because she was completely lost. All she know was that it was lined with trees, devoid of leaves in the wintry weather, and that the houses were large and probably Victorian.

Inuyasha sniffed the air a little.

"Good. She's home." He leapt over the iron gates and onto a large green lawn.

Kagome found herself looking at a beautiful old house shaded by leafless trees.

_It's so… grand. I wonder who lives there?_

Grand was a perfect word to describe it. Three storeys high, the architecture was unmistakably Victorian, with lofty windows surrounded by carved stone. The front door was more modern, but still had an impressive feel to it. Kagome could imagine someone of high class living there.

Sango, Miroku and Shippou all got off Kirara, who shrunk back to her normal size. All four looked at the residence with awe.

"Come on." Inuyasha lead the way to the front door, surprisingly nervous.

_She has to help us. She's just got to._

He hammered on the door and it opened very quickly.

Kagome gasped as the owner of the house blinked at them.

"Mrs. Kaede?" She asked, as the old woman with grey hair and one eye looked at them.

"Kagome? Inuyasha? What are ye doing here?"

Inuyasha looked her in the eye. "Kaede, we have a problem."

The teacher returned the look with some distaste. "And what would your problem be?"

"This." The hanyou shoved Kagome forwards and pulled her necklace out from under her hair where it had fallen.

Kaede looked at it for a second in shock and then nodded.

"So the Shikon no Tama was found after all."

Miroku was unable to hide a gasp.

Kaede opened the door a little wider.

"I think you'd better come in."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Rin regained consciousness slowly. She was warm, for the first time in months, and her arm that had been hurting so badly was now comfortable.

_I wonder if I'm dead?_

She decided to be brave and opened her eyes. A pair of amber eyes met hers in a level gaze.

Pain returned to Rin as she sat up. Her arm, which had seemed fine, now seemed to be burning.

_Ow…_

The owner of the eyes sat back a little, regarding her. She looked at him to take her mind off the pain.

His long silver hair flowed freely down his back and over the traditional youkai armour that he wore. His feet were bare and Rin could see sharp claws extending from his fingernails. Over one shoulder was slung a large fluffy… something. Rin couldn't decide if it was a boa or the person's tail.

Rin's gaze wandered back to his face. Relentless amber eyes kept their icy gaze fixed on the teen's face and she stared back.

Two purple stripes adorned his cheeks just under the eyes, and a crescent moon of a darker colour was on his forehead. Rin knew that this was a powerful youkai indeed.

"Who are you, girl?" Rin froze. Although she had somehow known that this youkai was male, he had a very feminine appearance. His voice defied that – deep and powerful.

Rin opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Answer me!"

Rin sat back weakly and shook her head.

"Is that you won't, or you can't?"

She shook her head and then nodded to show him which was right.

The youkai leant back in his chair, observing the girl in the bed before him. He had brought her to his home after she had collapsed, much to Jaken's absolute disgust. There was something about her that he couldn't pin his finger on…

So, ignoring protests, he had brought her here and put her to bed, and set himself to watch over her.

And here they were now.

"So, you can't talk." He looked her up and down. "Well then, silent girl, I am called Sesshomaru, and you are in my territory."

Rin looked at him with wide eyes.

_This can't be good!_

>

>

A short chapter with nothing much happening. But it's probably going to be the last update for about three or four weeks.

Out of interest, the ongoing debate: Sesshy's fluffy thing a tail or a boa?

CN.


	9. A little explanation

Written on the way to Berlin in a coach and typed up in revision breaks… a bit of a bitty chapter really.

Thank you so much for all the reviews… this chapter wouldn't be here without you guys…priestessmykala, Punk Rock Miko2, Cold Kikyo (tail…. Hmmm…), TruthOfSelf, Ryo-Truesdale (I'm going with your answer of my question) Inuyasha05, and Jamie (Those were actual typos by the way XgulpX because I didn't have all that much time to proofread the chapter… Thanks for the help! Changed… and this chapter was so bitty there may be typos here too, though I've read through it enough times!)

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be stuck revising…

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 8**

**A little explanation**

Kaede eyed the six that had almost run into her home.

They were currently sitting at her dining room table, a beautifully carved piece of oak furniture. The room itself was oaken panelled too, as well as oak floored. That, coupled with the plants in the room and the beams across the ceiling, gave the impression of being in a wooden house or even a woodland cottage.

Had Kagome been her normal self – or at least less confused, then she would have looked around and seen the family photos on the wall and windowsill of a girl who looked much like her, and a younger child with dark hair and dark eyes. She would also have seen the bellflowers (1) on the sill in a simple (but elegant) blue vase.

Inuyasha, having been there before, did not need to take the room in, but he looked around anyway to see what had changed. He was gratified to see the pictures of Kikyo were still there.

_So the old hag still remembers her. Good._

Sango was leaning against Miroku, eyes closed. She had lost a fair amount of blood from her torn shoulder and felt dizzy when she opened her eyes. Kirara sat on her lap, keeping her company and Miroku was holding a towel against the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

The street-boy was examining the room with some interest, having never been in a proper house before (Mushin's shack did not count as a proper house). He also took in the old woman in front of him: grey hair framed a face that was both tired and old, though must have looked beautiful at one point. Her one eye was dark and beady, the other covered by a dark eye patch.

Shippou clung to Miroku, apparently scared. He had his eyes shut – and Miroku suspected that the kitsune did not trust people all that much.

Kaede surveyed each one, and for a long moment no one spoke. Then Inuyasha (unusually) broke the silence.

"We have a problem," he stated, drumming his clawed fingers against the polished wood of the table. Kaede shot him an evil look.

"You have some explaining to do, Inuyasha," Miroku looked at the hanyou directly. "I've known you for over a year and never have you mentioned the Shikon jewel to me. As a trained monk, which you knew I was, I know about it and would have understood the need to keep a secret."

"You're a monk?" Shippou was startled out of his stupor.

"_You?"_ Kagome echoed the kitsune.

Miroku lifted the towel on Sango's shoulder to check the bleeding. "Yes. My master was one, so I trained too. Hence the staff." He waved said item around before looking at Inuyasha. "Well?"

The tall figure snorted. "That's because you didn't need to know."

Kagome felt her temper rising. Too many surprises were not good for her. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on around here?" She demanded.

Sango blearily opened her eyes. "You carry the Shikon jewel and yet you have never heard of it?"

Kagome frowned. "Nope."

Sango gave a small moan as she forced herself to sit up straight. Immediately after the battle, she had felt fine – adrenaline had kept her from feeling the pain. Now however…

She ignored it. "The Shikon no Tama, also known as the jewel of four souls, was created by a miko – priestess -," she added, seeing a few confused looks "called Midoriko. It holds the power of both the youkai race and the human race – and, if invoked correctly, would end the split of this world. But, no one has ever had the power necessary to do that yet. It was given to a line of mikos to guard, and each miko was tested to see if they were the one destined to wield it." She paused as the rest of the table took this in. "The last known guardian was a miko of about our age – and she was killed a few years ago."

She let her eyes close again and fell back on Miroku's shoulder. The teen picked the tale up.

"But if the jewel was to fall into the hand of someone evil, there is no way of knowing what they could do with it. They could eradicate the humans, or the youkai, or cause war…"

"Which would be a total disaster." Finished Kaede. "Now, I have let you in here, but before we start talking properly, I really must know your names. I know Kagome and Inuyasha, but…"

"I'm Miroku, this is Sango, Shippou and Kirara," the teen pointed to each of his friends. Kaede nodded at each. Then she turned to Inuyasha.

"I know you do not like people – or explaining things," she added wryly, "But you are the only one who knows what is going on here. I need you to tell me why it is you brought everyone here and what happened." She closed her eye. "You'll need to start from the beginning."

Inuyasha stood up, silver hair flying everywhere from the violence of his action. "You tell your part and let them tell their part." He growled. "I do not want to get involved in this mess any more."

Kaede sighed as he jumped out of the window.

"He'll never learn," she muttered. The others in the room looked rather surprised. She shrugged, pointing to the window and gesturing to show that she knew the hanyou was listening. "Here's my part, anyway."

_A little girl of about five or six jumped up and down excitedly. She was cute, an observer would say, with her rosebud lips and button nose. Her hair was fairly long and tied up in plaits and she showed promise of being more than cute._

"_Grandma! Grandma!" She called to the kitchen._

_Kaede stuck her head out of the door and looked down at her granddaughter fondly. _

"_Kikyo, try to calm down" she said to the excited child._

"_But grandma! Today I'll know if I'm going to be the next guardian of the Shikon jewel like you!"_

_Kaede fingered the pink gem that was faintly glowing on the necklace she wore._

"_Yes Kikyo. But remember, guarding the jewel is a great responsibility."_

"_But I know I'm ready." Kaede was taken aback by the maturity of the child in front of her._

_She knew that her granddaughter would grow to be a very powerful miko indeed._

"And she did," Kaede reminisced. "She took up the Shikon no Tama when she was ten and kept it from all harm."

She glanced out of the window. "And then she met Inuyasha."

_The fourteen-year-old girl, with black hair and pale skin walked around the side of the river Thames. The path on which she walked was lined with leafy trees, rustling softly in the wind. The river itself was flowing gently by._

_The promise that had been with Kikyo since she was young had been fulfilled – she was beautiful. But her eyes were sad._

I chose this _she reminded herself. _This was my choice.

_She did not realise that she had said it aloud._

"_If it was your choice then be happy you made it." _

_She looked around, bewildered, for the owner of the voice. There was no one visible, youkai or human._

"_Look up." The voice sounded almost bored._

_She looked up into a nearby tree to see a boy of about fifteen or so looking out onto the river._

_Not a boy, she realised. Not with the shining silver hair and cute dog-ears that stuck out on top of his head. Not with the sharp claws that tipped long fingers and not with the amber eyes fixed on the waters of the Thames. _

"_You are a hanyou." She stated quietly._

_The boy stood up on his tree branch._

"_You're a miko." He responded. "Kikyo."_

_Kikyo's eyes widened. "Who _are _you?" she asked._

_The hanyou dropped down._

"_Inuyasha." He said._

"The two became friends and I grew to know him well." Kaede told them. "But someone somewhere did not agree with them – or feared what they could do together. Three years ago, a year after they met, someone attacked them."

"And Kikyo was killed." Miroku stated.

Kaede nodded. "Yes. I was… detained at the time by an attack on my own life. I escaped with loosing only an eye."

Sango spoke, without moving this time: "Yes, and the jewel vanished."

Kagome had listened intently to the stories and was no less confused than when they had all stared talking.

"But Mrs. Kaede, what does this have to do with… I mean…"

Sango opened her eyes again and sat up.

"That was Kikyo, wasn't it Kaede." She pointed to the picture of the beautiful girl on the window ledge, half hidden by the bellflowers there too.

Kaede got up and picked up the picture in question, bringing it back to her seat at the table. There, she put it down.

Miroku gasped. It showed Kikyo and Inuyasha together, arms around each other.

Kaede gestured to the image. "Inuyasha vanished too. For months I though him responsible for Kikyo's death, but then I found out that he was injured on that day too. I haven't seen him for three long years."

Kagome looked at the picture, focusing on the hanyou.

"He hasn't aged!" she said with some surprise.

Kaede shrugged. "Youkai and hanyou age very differently to us, child," she said. "It wouldn't surprise me if I was told that Inuyasha is older than me."

While Kagome sat digesting this information, Shippou picked up the picture.

"That's Kagome!" he suddenly said.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Kagome asked.

"It's her. I can see it…" Shippou held the picture up next to her face.

Kaede shook her head. "No, it's definitely my granddaughter."

Miroku took the picture. "Still, an extraordinary likeness." He noted. "Surely this isn't a coincidence?"

Kaede shook her head. "I do not believe in coincidences. Kagome holds the jewel because she was destined to have it."

"She used Kikyo's bow, old hag." Inuyasha's voice floated in from somewhere outside. "She found it and shot a purifying arrow. I thought Kikyo…"

"I think it's probably out turn for an explanation," the Miroku intervened. Between the three humans and Shippou, they told their story.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After they had finished, Kaede's eyes widened. "I found the bow about a month back," she said. " - when I set your English project, Kagome - and decided to lay it to rest. Only Kikyo could use it, so I threw it out."

"She's your English teacher?" Miroku cut in.

"Yes." Kagome said. "Kaede," she dropped the 'Mrs.' "Where did you throw the bow out?"

Kaede shrugged. "I don't remember."

Sango spoke up. "It was the closed down market. It must have been in the rubbish pile, then when Shippou jumped in a couple of days back…"

"It was dislodged!" Finished Miroku.

Kaede smiled. "I thought it odd that the bow vanished and suddenly reappeared. It knew it was needed."

"But why me?" Kagome asked. "You said that only Kikyo could use it. Why me?"

There was silence.

"Reincarnation is impossible." Sango stated. "Kikyo died only recently."

Miroku snapped his fingers, almost hitting Shippou with his staff and causing Sango to wince.

"Sorry," he said. "Bodily reincarnation is out of the question, but what about that of the soul?"

Dead silence greeted this remark.

Miroku continued. "What if, say, Kikyo died and there was no mikos left in the family to guard the jewel. You'd already had it and were injured, so couldn't take it…"

Kaede looked troubled. "Kikyo's spirit would stay with the jewel until someone was found."

Miroku nodded. "Yes, but she couldn't stay on the earth as a spirit."

"It has been known for people to share souls," Sango noted. "Suppose Kikyo and Kagome…"

Shippou frowned. "So what you're saying is that Kagome and Kikyo have… had… the same soul and so Kikyo went to Kagome?"

"Yes". Miroku nodded.

Kagome went rigid suddenly, her eyes flickering shut.

"Kagome!" Kaede shook her. But the girl made no rely.

_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_

_Kagome drifted above the dark London Street. The pouring rain passed through her body without affecting her and though she could see people in their houses through their windows, no one seemed to be able to see her._

_Beneath her, a young girl stumbled wearily down the road, slipping in a puddle. _

"_I remember this night!" Kagome suddenly said. "That's me!"_

_Little Kagome bowed her head against the weather as she made her way down the street. Although she was only eleven, she knew the dangers of being alone at night in London. Unfortunately, she was lost. Shivering slightly, she upped the pace a little and headed off towards the Thames, from where she knew her way home._

_Unnoticed by her, the older Kagome followed in the sky._

_The Thames was choppy indeed and both Kagomes found their eyes riveted on the sheer majesty of the churning waters. _

_Little Kagome turned away, intent on finding her way home. Then, she froze._

_A shape had appeared out of the gloom in front of her. A girl, older than her, but looking so much like her had appeared in front of her, clad in flowing red and white attire. She seemed unaffected by the rain and gave off an ethereal glow._

_Older Kagome watched, realising in amazement that the figure was Kikyo._

"_Hush, I mean you no harm." Little Kagome could now see that the girl in front of her was insubstantial and relaxed slightly._

"_Who are you?" she asked._

"_I am you, little one," the figure replied. "I am the same as you. We share a soul. We were meant to be one."_

_The young Kagome, watched by the older, nodded, somehow understanding what the figure wanted._

"_I'm Kikyo. And you will not remember this until you most need it." _

_The older Kagome's eyes widened as she remembered that day, when she found herself in front of her door with no recollection of getting there. Clutching a small pink gemstone._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The others in the room were very relieved when Kagome relaxed and started breathing normally again. She opened her eyes.

"I remember." She said.

"Remember what?" Miroku asked.

Kagome smiled slightly. "Kikyo."

Kaede looked at her. "So, you and Kikyo are one and the same now?" she asked. Kagome nodded.

Kaede have her a brief hug.

"Then it is almost like having one of my grandchildren back again."

"Grandchildren?" Shippou asked. Kaede sighed.

"Yes. The other, a girl three or so years younger than Kikyo, vanished on that same day. I believe that she was considered a threat, although she never showed any miko powers of her own. I do miss her."

She looked around. "But that is the past. Now, I do not think you were brought together by accident. So, I charge you all with the protection of the Shikon no Tama."

The teens, Shippou and Kirara exchanged looks.

Sango voiced the question that had been running through all of their minds.

"Kaede, do we know who killed Kikyo?"

"Yes." There was a pause. "A fusion hanyou by the name of Naraku."

Sango sat up straight.

"Naraku." She stared stonily ahead. "The one who ruined my life!"

The others around the table looked at her.

>

(I was going to leave it there, but eighteen hours on a bus gets quite boring and I had to do something…)

_>_

_Sango laughed as she put her small hand on her mother's swollen belly._

"_He's kicking!" she giggled._

_Her mother smiled down at her daughter. "That's right! It shows he wants to come out."_

_Sango looked up at her mother and removed the hand. "And then I'll have my new baby brother?"_

"_Yes. He'll be born before you know it."_

_Sango jumped up and down excitedly. "My little brother, Kohaku!"_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"_Sa'go! Sa'go!" The little toddler ran behind his sister with glee. Sango, now a sturdy little eight year old, grabbed his hand. _

_The two were in the middle of a fairground, surrounded by rides and stalls, merchants selling all kinds of wondrous trinkets, balloon sellers…_

"_Kohaku, look!" Sango pointed to a nearby magician, who was entertaining a crowd of laughing children._

"_Do you want to go and see him?" she asked._

_Kohaku hugged her leg, the easiest part of her for him to reach. "Wanna stay with Sa'go!"_

_She felt so happy it was as though her heart would burst._

_Sango sat up in bed, moaning and hiding it with difficulty. Her stomach was hurting, her head felt light. But she couldn't say anything… she didn't want to worry anyone._

_Her breathing became faster as the pain worsened and she doubled over in pain, letting out an involuntary whimper._

_Her bedroom door opened, and she turned away. She felt her father's gentle hand on her shoulder and her mother's soothing voice._

"_Sango, what's wrong."_

"_N…nothing," she choked. She felt her mother sit on the bed behind her._

"_It's alright to be sick now and again," her father said. "That's what we're here for."_

_The little girl turned to her parents. "But I don't want to upset you."_

_Her mother gave her a hug. "You could never upset us, sweetheart. Now, what's wrong?"_

_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_

_The hot sun shone down on the wide beach, and on the family as they stood on it. Umbrellas were already up behind them, along with beach mats and towels. The fine golden sand was slightly hot to the feet, but none of them minded – they were all too busy staring at the clear blue sea._

"_Swimming!" Kohaku, now ten years old, punched the air. "I'm gonna beat you down there, sis!"_

_Sango grabbed his arm as he tried to run off. "You aren't!"_

_Their father swept his untidy hair back on his head and pushed them down in a heap on the sand. _

"_Actually, I'll be there first!"_

_The two siblings found themselves tangled together. Their mother shrugged. _

"_Don't be slow, you two!" and followed her husband to the sea._

_Sango picked Kohaku up. "I guess neither of us won."_

_Kohaku shrugged. "No matter."_

_>>_

_Later, as the sun had started to set, the two stood looking out at the sea. (2) Their parents were packing the car and they had chosen to spend five minutes or so at the beach alone. The sky was tinged with pink, and streaks of golden light seemed to change the colour of the sea. _

_Kohaku looked at Sango. "Sis, will it always be like this?"_

_Sango turned to her brother. "What do you mean?"_

_Kohaku hesitated. "Loads of my friends say that they hate their sisters. That their sisters are mean and don't talk to them, and they're always arguing."_

_Sango held up her hand to silence her brother. "Are most people you and me?" she asked simply. _

_Kohaku looked at her questioningly. "No."_

_Sango picked up his hand and clasped it in her own._

"_We'll always be brother and sister," she began. "And that does sometimes mean arguing." She silenced her brother's objection with a look. "But we're friends too, right? And friends stay together, no matter what."_

_Kohaku clasped her hand in return. "Friends." He said._

"_You two!" Their father yelled. "Come on, we need to go!"_

_The two siblings set off home._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"I and my brother were more than just siblings," Sango said, softly, "and we grew even closer still as the years went on. My parents were good people and we had everything we could ever possibly want."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Unfortunately, we were also Midoriko's last living descendants – and the only ones with a full working knowledge of the Shikon jewel. And somehow…"

_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_

_Sango awoke to the darkness of her room, feeling smoke clog up her nose and mouth. She found that she couldn't breath, and that her room was getting hotter. Her body started growing heavy and tired and she thought about going back to sleep… until realisation struck her like a thunderbolt._

_Her room was filled with smoke. That meant a fire. And that meant that the rest of her family…_

_She sat bolt upright, struggling to breath. Stuffing a cloth over mouth, she forced herself to fall out of bed and lie on the floor, which, though hot, would have more oxygen to breath._

_She couldn't see a lot, but it was clearer on the carpet. She could make out shapes in the smoke… there was her dresser and her wardrobe. Her chair, and her schoolbag. She reached out and grabbed this, since it contained her training gear, and if this fire had been caused by a youkai, she would need it._

_Kirara came running over to her. She normally slept in a corner of the room, but was now wide-awake and meowing loudly – probably what had woken Sango in the first place._

_If Kirara hadn't woken her, she would have stayed asleep and been choked by the smoke._

_Sango muttered a "thanks" and picked up the neko. She then crawled across the floor to the door and pushed it open. _

_More smoke billowed in, and the landing was hotter than her room… much hotter. Although she could see no flames she knew the fire must be close._

_Stumbling to her feet she fought a wave of dizziness and ran at her parents' door, directly opposite hers. Ignoring the handle she threw herself at it until it shattered._

"_Kirara, get Kohaku!" she called, and the cat shot off down the landing to her brother's room._

_Sango, still clutching her cloth to her mouth, leapt over the fallen door, hitting the frame in the darkness. _

_Looking up she could immediately see that this room was alight. Flames licked the side of the room by the window; the wardrobes had already been devoured. Flames that were unnaturally high._

"_Mum! Dad!" She shrieked, clawing her way to their bed. She knew that if she did not get them out, the flames would eat her parents alive._

_She found that she could see, and so, despite the stinging heat, she forced her eyes open and moved faster._

_The floor felt sticky and damp. Puzzled, she carried on going until she reached her parents' bed. _

_Two lumps told her that they were there. The covers were drawn over their heads, and Sango quickly flung the duvet over the flames in the hope it would slow them down._

_She turned to her parents, and was horrified to see that they were covered in blood… warm, wet, sticky blood clinging to their clothing, their hair… Her mother's eyes were open and her mouth frozen in a silent scream…_

_She threw herself backwards and onto the floor. The flames were coming closer but she was in too much shock to do anything._

_A dark figure appeared in the heart of the flames, tall and ominous. "So, Sango", it said. The voice was low and although only those two words were spoken it was full of malice and hatred._

_Sango said nothing._

"_You went for your parents? Fool girl." The figure laughed, and to Sango it sounded like an echo from hell. "Death is a sleep that no one wakes from."_

"_Who… are you?" she forced the words out of her mouth._

_The figure came forwards slightly, but she could not make out any features because of the blazing firelight._

"_You will not survive to remember it, but my name is Naraku. You'll scream that name… in hell."_

_And then he was gone._

_Sango pulled herself out of the room and was met by Kirara and her brother._

"_Sis!" Kohaku coughed. "Mum and Dad?"_

_Sango shook her head. She couldn't make out her brother's face but she could tell that he was angry._

"_Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and the three ran to the edge of the stairs, trying not to choke on the ever-billowing smoke._

_Somehow, they made it down the stairs, amid the flames that had been lit throughout the house. _

_Halfway out the hall, Kohaku froze. "The book! I left it in the kitchen!"_

_Sango pushed him towards the door. "I'll get it. Get yourself out of there!"_

_She and Kirara ran back the way they had come, dodging pieces of falling, burning masonry. The house was falling down from the inside out._

_The kitchen was a raging inferno, but Sango could see the family's precious book, said to have been written by the great Midoriko herself, on the table. She threw herself into the room, grabbing the book, and, without pausing to think, jumped out of the kitchen window, shattering the pane and hitting her head hard on the ground when she landed. _

_Ignoring the pain and dizziness that swept across her, she got to her feet and yelled her brother's name one last time._

"_Kohaku!" She saw him turn around from where he was waiting and then vanish in a cloud of smoke and flame as part of the house collapsed._

_Kirara, now in the open, transformed and ran into the blazing pile to get him… but was forced back by the heat._

_Sango collapsed in a sobbing heap before the merciful blackness took her._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"And that was the last time I ever saw my brother," she concluded. "A year ago, when he was twelve. Naraku killed my whole family… no one escaped. I had to hide, since I was listed as dead. Kirara hid me until I woke up and then we ran far from the house…"

Miroku gave her a hug, and so did Kagome.

It seemed like nothing could break the heavy silence that had fallen.

>

(1) "Kikyo" means bellflower

(2) Think of the scene from fruits basket with Yuki and Kyo, or, better still, the scene from Yu-Gi-Oh with Shizuka and Jonouchi when they're at the beach and make that really kawaii pinky swear!

>

>

Not really happy with this chapter, but after three or four tries, this is what I got. I guess drama isn't my thing.

CN.


	10. The silent girl

I'm really, really sorry about the lateness of this update.

My homework piled up during my exams and the three or so days that I had set aside to do this just… vanished in a puff of smoke. Then, I had to spend a week doing work experience on Flathome – with no electricity. After that, my pet died and I was too depressed to write… and then, to cap it all, my computer crashed. Completely. It wiped out windows, and it's only just working.

But, a very late thanks to those who reviewed (cos this wouldn't be here at all if you hadn't!) – Cold Kikyo, Punk Rock Miko2, priestessmykala, AnimeKage, Inuyasha05 and Jamie (spelt right this time. Sorry! And thank you yet again for finding my grammar errors, and also helping me write this chapter!).

Disclaimer – Meh. If I had money, I could buy Inuyasha. Hmm… I remember money…

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 9**

The silent girl 

"So, you can't talk." He looked her up and down. "Well then, silent girl, I am called Sesshomaru, and you are in my territory."

Rin looked at him with wide eyes.

_This can't be good!_

She caught his eyes in her own wide-eyed panic and held his icy amber gaze with her own. He did nothing, just sat there.

_Please _she mouthed. _Let me go. Please._

The youkai looked at her and slowly blinked, breaking the connection he had with her. He seemed…

_Cold. _Rin thought. _Cold and lonely, though he has a hard exterior._

"And why should I free you, human? You have not yet told me your name."

Rin motioned for some paper and the youkai nodded, getting up, and produced some from a draw.

He couldn't understand what was happening to him. Normally, he would have killed a human on sight, but when she turned up with not a whimper of pain…

It touched him. Somehow.

And there was no real reason that she couldn't talk; her mouth and throat were fine.

_She has lost the will to speak and so believes that she cannot._

Sesshomaru felt an unusual emotion for this human girl; pity. She was about sixteen or so, with mid-length black hair, unkempt and partly tied up to keep it out of her dirty and smudged face. Her brown eyes were frightened and weary, but there was life there yet… happy, sparkling life…

The youkai shook the thoughts firmly out of his head.

_Youkai and humans are enemies. We cannot help her. It is forbidden._

He handed the paper and a pen to the girl without a word, and she started writing. He leant over the bed, curious.

_Thank you very much for saving me. My name is Rin. I am honoured to meet you Lord Sesshomaru._

The youkai raised delicate silver eyebrows. "Rin." He rolled the word around in his mouth a few times.

She nodded.

Just at that moment, a large, green, toad-like creature entered the room. "Lord Sesshomaru!" It croaked. Rin looked it over curiously, noting the strange staff that it carried, and the old brown clothes that it wore. Bulbous eyes turned on the girl, and she noted, hiding a smile, that this… toad youkai had a cute little hat on too.

"My lord, the girl has woken up, should we not give her back to the streets?"

Rin noted that his voice would get a little annoying after a while.

Sesshomaru stood up. "Yes Jaken. But we must escort her out of the territory of the wolf clan first."

The toad-thing, which Rin assumed to be Jaken, looked taken aback. "But my lord! Surely she is not important enough for that."

Rin winced. This conversation was not going well, at least to her.

Sesshomaru, though he hid it well, was having similar thoughts.

_For some reason, the thought of this girl being harmed by the wolves causes me concern. Perhaps I should study her a while longer._

Aloud, he replied: "I do not want the blood of a human to be on my claws. She may stay here a little longer then I shall escort her out of the youkai side of London."

"But…"

"You may leave, Jaken."

The green youkai left, apparently in a huff.

Rin stared, and Sesshomaru noted in passing that she looked very cute when she stared…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Later that afternoon, the chill wind and cold sun found the tall, silver-haired youkai walking slowly in order for the smaller, bare-foot human girl to keep up with him.

The silence was not cold, (unlike the weather) but it was not comfortable. Sesshomaru almost wished for Jaken's ceaseless chattering to clear the air.

Unfortunately, (or thankfully, depending how you look at it), Jaken had been left behind at Sesshomaru's home – it could hardly be called a house. This just left the girl and the youkai to walk to the human side of town together.

Sesshomaru decided to break the silence up, an unusual thing for the normally silent inu to do.

"Will your family be looking for you?" This was the wrong question to ask, since Rin immediately tensed up. She shook her head.

Sesshomaru tried again. "Do they not care for you?" Rin shrugged.

Sesshomaru wondered about that response. Surely if they cared they would be looking… unless…

"Do you have any family?" Rin shook her head slowly.

_Ah…_

The youkai forced the pity down again, as though some disgusting beast had reared up and attacked him.

_She's just a human. She is not worth this trouble._

Nevertheless, when they reached the end of the youkai side of town and she gave a little wave before walking off, his heart felt a lot heavier than before…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kagome sat in her room, staring at the window. Rain was tumbling down again, hitting the windowpane and trickling in a snake-like stream towards the ground. It was cold outside, and the heating was turned up high. Despite this, the house was still cold and Kagome had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

They were going to meet up tomorrow – her, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, and, she smiled wryly, Inuyasha.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. She was. The idea of people being after her – willing to kill her – for a small pink gem was more than scary. Sango had lost her family to the one who killed Kikyo – and if this… Naraku could take down the powerful miko Kagome doubted that he would have any troubles with small fry like her.

So, worried for her family's safety, she had told her mother what had happened.

Her mother, being her mother, was not terribly bothered.

"_That little stone has been here for years and you have never had a single problem," she said. "So don't worry. But, if it makes you feel better, I'll get your grandfather to put some concealing wards around the house."_

Yup. That was her mother.

Kagome supposed she was right. But it didn't stop her being worried.

And then there was the deal with her powers. Apparently, she had purifying powers of a high level. And she needed training.

That was where Miroku and Sango came in. Although Kaede had offered to teach her, Kagome had refused – no sense burdening the old woman further. The monk (she still couldn't believe that such a hentai was a monk, either) and Sango seemed to know a lot about miko powers, and had offered to instruct her.

They were such good friends.

And speaking of friends…

_What'll the others in school say?_

Kagome had visions of her friends' faces. Eri, looking bemused, Yuka, shocked, and Ayumi just finding the whole thing a big joke.

Great.

Not forgetting Hojo. What was she meant to do about him? Nice as he was, she didn't trust him all that much… and telling him that she had made friends with homeless kids – a monk, a girl, two youkai – and was acquainted with a hanyou (seen as the scum of the lower part of society) wouldn't bode well.

Kagome turned away from the window, and walked over to her bed determinedly. She just… wouldn't tell them. That was all.

What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?

The rain suddenly started picking up, the droplets getting bigger and falling more forcefully from the sky. Kagome winced at the noise.

_I hope the others are alright…_she thought miserably. _I knew I should have asked them to stay over, but they left…_

Sighing, she slowly climbed into bed and switched the light off.

It had been a long, long day.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not too far away, inside Kaede's grand Victorian house, sat two of the acquaintances she had been thinking about.

Kaede sat once again at the grand table, this time with some sewing. She glanced up from her work every now and then to look at the other in the room, who was glaring moodily at the ceiling and muttering under his breath.

Finally, the old teacher decided that she had had enough.

"Stop muttering Inuyasha," she snapped, exasperated. "You sound like a disgruntled dog."

Inuyasha stopped abruptly, and looked down from the ceiling, an angry retort clear in his amber eyes. Kaede, however, had gone back to her sewing.

Before Inuyasha had a chance to go back to glaring at the ceiling, Kaede broke the silence once again.

"What do you think of Kagome, Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

The hanyou brought his mind out of daydreams of happier times and looked at the woman in front of him.

"Kagome, What do you think of her?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Feh. Not a lot. That wench has nothing going for her at all."

Kaede paused to rethread her needle. "Yet it was the first time she had picked up a bow today."

The hanyou looked annoyed at being questioned. "So? Kikyo was a master archer. And," he hit the table with one claw to make his point. "She didn't hit the youkai properly."

Kaede raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

With Inuyasha around, there was really no point.

After a couple of minutes of quiet, Inuyasha stood up.

"Thanks for letting me stay a while, old woman," he said gruffly.

Kaede hid a smile. Underneath his hard exterior, Inuyasha was surprisingly sensitive – when he wasn't angry, that was.

"One moment, Inuyasha," she commented, getting up and pulling something from her pocket.

Inuyasha stared at the necklace that she had pulled out, made of large brown and black beads and some sharp white… somethings.

"What the hell's that?" He asked warily.

"A rosary." Kaede replied sternly. "It will help you to sense where Kagome is."

"And I would want that because...?"

"You said that you'd protect Kikyo. Kagome harbours her soul. Kagome _is _Kikyo."

Inuyasha grabbed the beaded necklace exasperatedly.

"Fine."

Kaede held up a hand. "Once on, you cannot remove it. Are you willing to stay bound to Kagome?"

Inuyasha hestitaded.

He looked at the necklaces and then out the window. Kaede could not tell what he was thinking.

"Yes!" He firmly held the rosary up and placed it around his neck.

_So be it, _thought Kaede. _A knot has been tied._

She also produced a letter from her pocket.

"Please give this to Kagome," she said to Inuyasha, who was trying to figure out what the rosary had actually done to him. The hanyou took the letter carefully and put it into the inside of his coat, before jumping out of the window.

"Oh, and Inuyasha," Kaede added. "I shall know if you have opened it!"

Inuyasha chose not to reply.

>

>

Fweh! It's tooooo hot in here… /collapses/

CN.


	11. Getting to know you

/Blinks/ OK… that's more reviews than I hoped for… Thank you very much you guys! Cold Kikyo, Punk Rock Miko2, premierarchange, TearStainedLife, priestessmykala, Avelyn Lauren, Inuyasha06 and Tainaco! Domo Arigato!

Disclaimer: I wish I did own Inuyasha… but only in my dreams…

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

\\\\\\\\ Change of time/scene. (It don't like my arrows no more. Sob.)

**Chapter 10**

**Getting to know you**

_The raven-haired girl walked serenely downstairs._

"_I'm going!" She poked her nose into the kitchen, and then turned and walked towards the door, pausing to grab a coat off the rain._

"_Take care!" she heard her mother call._

"_Don't worry, I will."_

_She shut the door softly with a smile on her face._

"_You're early today," she heard a voice. Although she turned around, she could see no one._

_She closed her eyes. "Of course, I had to see you."_

_There was a pause._

"_After all, you and I are nearly soul mates, right?"_

_She could feel his eyes on her. "Right." _

Kagome rolled out of bed.

_Thump!_

She sat up, groaning. "That hurt." She rubbed her head, and then looked at the time.

_Half six? Great. There's no point in going to sleep again now._

It was still dark outside and rain continued to fall as it had the last two days. Kagome didn't look forwards to walking to school.

With a sigh she got to her feet off the hard floor and started brushing her hair.

"What a weird dream," she muttered. "It was really clear… I could hear that voice… I've heard it before…"

She closed her eyes and blanked her mind, waiting for a picture to form in her mind.

She had had strange dreams for the past two nights. Some had been warm and left her smiling when she had woken up, but others had been cold and lonely.

Kikyo's memories. She knew that was what they were - or rather, her soul's memories. She and Kikyo were the same.

There! She could see the one that was "nearly" her soul mate. A red coat and long hair…

"Hoi!" The image shattered into a million pieces. She looked up to the window to see Inuyasha there, tapping the pane with his long claws.

She hastily opened the window and the hanyou climbed into the house.

_What's he doing here?_ She bit off a snappy comment._ Be nice Kagome, he hasn't done anything to you. _

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" She asked.

The hanyou turned his amber eyes to her own brown ones, and she felt a shiver pass through her spine.

"Kaede sent me," he muttered.

Kagome immediately noted something different about him… ah, yes, something around his neck. She moved closer to get a better look. Inuyasha jumped backwards as she leant forwards.

"What're you doing, wench?" He glared at her.

Kagome was too surprised to snap at him. "Is that… a rosary?"

Inuyasha picked it up between his fingers. "Yeah," he muttered.

"But, I thought they were for binding…"

Inuyasha looked away with some difficulty. "Keh."

"Who, or what, are you bound to?" Kagome persisted.

Inuyasha didn't answer. He turned his whole body away from her, folded his arm and snorted.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said warningly. "How'd you get the rosary?"

Inuyasha turned around to say something, but sneezed before he had the chance.

Kagome blinked a little.

"Oh, you're soaking!" she looked him over again. Sure enough, his hair was clinging to his head, and the red coat that he wore looked saturated, let alone his baggy red trousers.

"I'll get a towel." She shot out of her room and vanished down the hall to get the hanyou something to dry off with.

Inuyasha looked around her room. It was small, and warm, he noted. She was obviously in the attic by the way the roof sloped downwards, meeting the wall above her desk. The window was sloping too, giving a good view of the sky.

The hanyou wandered over to her desk, where she had left her schoolwork out, and noted that the back of the wooden shelf (the front was packed full of stationary) was filled with photographs.

_Guess that must be her mother, _the hanyou noted, looking at a picture of a kind-faced woman with short brown hair.

_And her brother? _A boy stood next to the woman. He looked too much like Kagome for him to be anything other than family.

Inuyasha turned around as he sensed Kagome returning.

"Here," she panted. "You can dry off and put these on."

Inuyasha looked askance at the clothes she offered him.

Kagome saw the look, and put the clothes on her bed. "You don't have to change," she said irritably, "But at least you can get a bit dry!"

Inuyasha picked up the towel and wiped his face and hands.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless." When the hanyou didn't move, she pulled out the chair from under her desk and pushed him in it.

"Sit!" She tapped him on the head. Much to her surprise, Inuyasha hit the floor with a large "_thump" _rivalling her own from that morning.

"Huh?"

She was totally baffled.

So apparently was Inuyasha.

"What the hell?" he asked, as soon as he unglued his face from the floor.

Kagome caught his eye and shook her head. "Come on, sit on …" she never finished her sentence because the hanyou's silver head was rammed into the floor.

Kagome gasped as she saw the rosary glow. "Inuyasha…"

"I saw." The amber-eyed teen glared at his neck, quite a feat.

"Kaede gave me the rosary," he said, pulling out a piece of (slightly damp) paper from his red jacket. "This is for you."

Kagome took the note:

_Kagome, Kikyo made Inuyasha this rosary but never got to put it to use. The rosary binds the holder to the maker, so Inuyasha is now bound to you_

"What!" Kagome and Inuyasha, who was reading over her shoulder both shouted. The note continued

_in that he can sense when you are in danger or unhappy. _

Both the hanyou and the miko breathed a sigh of relief.

_However, I know that Inuyasha can sometimes be overbearing, so I added a spell that will allow you to subdue him. The first command that you give him will do this._

_Kaede._

Kagome put the letter down on her desk.

"So, what did I say?" she asked. The hanyou didn't reply. He looked livid.

"Why… she…" He started breathing heavily.

"Inuyasha, sit…" The hanyou hit the floor for the third time that morning.

"Oops," Kagome muttered. "I guess I've figured out the subduing spell."

Inuyasha peeled his face off the floor. "Damn…" he groaned.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Sango woke up suddenly, finding herself warm and more comfortable than she had been for months. She sat up, and as she did so, Miroku's coat fell off her shoulders and down onto her lap.

She tried to get up, putting both hands behind her, but failed dismally, reminded that her shoulder was delicate by the throbbing pain that shot up her arm.

Miroku himself appeared in the archway. "Sango, are you all right?" he asked, bending down when he saw her expression.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "It's been a week since I hurt it. I feel silly just lying here or walking around doing nothing. I'm not helpless."

Miroku gently pushed her back down again. "If you feel like to getting up and doing something then you are welcome to." Sango sat up again as he left.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To see if I can get any breakfast," the monk told her.

Sango sighed, watching him go, then mentally shook herself.

Using the wall, she got up, and wandered into the main area of the market, kicking a paper up as she did so, heading for the rubbish heap. Shippou appeared from somewhere, chasing the ball that he had bought with Kagome.

"Sango!" he chirped. The teen bent down and picked up an old duster. "What are you doing?"

Sango gave a lopsided shrug. "Cleaning Hiraikotsu." She produced the small boomerang from somewhere in her clothing and sat down to clean it.

"Are you sure that you should be doing that?" Shippou asked, noting the strain it put on both shoulders as she rubbed the weapon.

"Don't you start," Sango told the kitsune, "Miroku's acting like a mother hen."

"He's just worried," Shippou said with confidence. "He cares about you, that's all."

Sango blinked.

"Trust me, I've known him for too long." The kitsune assured her.

At that moment Miroku arrived back. "Nothing," he announced. "No one out and no food either."

Sango and Shippou exchanged gloomy looks.

"Never mind," Sango carried on polishing her weapon. "If Kagome's coming this morning, maybe she'll have some sandwiches."

None of those in the marketplace had seen Kagome since they left Kaede's, a week previous.

"She's coming this afternoon," they heard a voice coming from above, and looked up to see Inuyasha sitting on a high window ledge, the window itself having been smashed long ago.

"You've been already?" Shippou asked.

"Keh."

Inuyasha jumped down from the ledge. "Someone's gotta look out for that idiot," he muttered.

"You have been spending an awful lit of time with her though," Sango mused.

"So?" Inuyasha glared at the teen.

Miroku looked at Inuyasha thoughtfully. "Do you like her, Inuyasha?" he asked.

The hanyou snorted.

Miroku grinned and closed his eyes. "I can see it now, Kagome and Inuyasha on a date…"

He found himself nursing a bruised head.

"As if!" Inuyasha huffed. "There's no way I like her. She's annoying and stuck up! And, she goes out with that stupid guy… Hojo!"

He jumped away.

The four in the square exchanged looks.

"He likes her."

"Definitely."

"Inuyasha needs someone like Kagome."

"Meoow!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Kagome walked up the street with her friends.

"Kagome, we haven't seen you in ages on a Saturday!"

"Yeah, where've you been?"

Kagome smiled at Eri, Yuka and Ayumi. "I made some friends and we've been spending time together."

"Who?" They all asked.

"Is it a guy?" Ayumi added.

"One's a kid," Kagome said, "one's a girl and the other two are guys."

"Are they cute?" Eri asked.

Kagome snorted. "Whether he knows it or not, one of them is head over heels with the girl."

"And the other?"

"Him?" Kagome looked at the sky. "I guess. Too bad his personality doesn't match his looks." She pictured Inuyasha standing there as he had when he saved them from Kagura.

"What do you mean?"

"He's rude, arrogant, ignorant," Kagome listed, "annoying and selfish."

Her friends looked at each other. "Maybe you shouldn't be friends with him then?"

Kagome looked in the distance, not listening to a word they said.

"But then he's sometimes kind and caring," she remembered when he had helped her carry her books down the stairs, "and my brother loves him." She considered how excited Souta had been when he met Inuyasha.

Eri frowned. "Sounds like you like him, Kagome."

Ayumi nodded. "Yeah, you've never talked that way about a guy before."

Kagome shook her head. "No way! He's a stupid jerk. Come on," she grabbed Yuka's arm. "Let's get some lunch!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

It was strangely empty in Sesshomaru's room. It had been since the silent girl, Rin, had left.

The youkai paced the room up and down, while Jaken watched him nervously.

Finally, the toad dared interrupt his master.

"My lord…?"

Sesshomaru stopped pacing and looked at his servant.

"Yes, Jaken?"

"I heard somewhere… the name of your brother…"

This was a delicate subject to take with Sesshomaru. He and his hanyou brother had never been very close, but looked out for each other and there had been a bond there. Then, when the hanyou's mother had died, he had vanished. Sesshomaru had searched. But had found nothing.

"Was that all you heard, Jaken?" the youkai lord kept his emotions under a tight lid.

"N…no my lord," the toad continued after bowing. "I heard the name… Naraku."

Sesshomaru looked up to the ceiling.

"I heard that Naraku knows where Inuyasha is."

Sesshomaru swept out of the room.

"My lord? My lord?" Jaken hurried after him. "Where are you going?"

"To find this… Naraku."

\\

\\

Whew! This took ages… stupid holiday… gave me writers' block…

CN.


	12. A brotherly bond?

For summer, we've had an awful lot of rain. Meh.

Anyway, thank you so much for your reviews /grins/ Avelyn Lauren, Allantion (Sesshy's coming in this chappie, I swear.) Cold Kikyo, priestessmykala and Jamie (and you still managed to find an error! You're amazing!)

Question – what's the plural of youkai? Or doesn't it have one?

Disclaimer: I ordered some Inuyasha manga, but it hasn't come yet. So, I still don't own Inuyasha. (I'm also broke.)

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 11**

**A brotherly bond?**

The streets were dark and cold as the youkai lord and his valet strode up and down the maze. The wind was howling and the waning moon gave off a sickly light. The puddles on the floor had all frosted over and Sesshomaru had to make sure that he didn't lose his dignity and fall flat on his face. (He had come close twice now. Jaken, on the other hand, had hit the ground no less than five times.)

They were in a part of London that was totally uninhabited. After all the wars there had been, the youkai and humans had agreed to live in the same city on the condition that there was a barrier between them. That barrier meant that humans and youkai left their homes and moved to their own sides of the city, leaving an empty area.

A sort of no man's land, if you like.

It was easy to wander in and out. Too easy. For if someone of either species crossed the boundary then the others could do with them as they liked.

Sesshomaru could see his breath rising in a mist as they walked.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" Jaken was brave enough to talk to his master.

"Yes Jaken?"

"What are we looking for?"

The youkai looked up to the moon, veiled with cloud, as his long, loose clothing swung back and forth. His boa rustled next to his ear, and he appeared lost in thought.

"My… Lord…?"

"We shall know when we see it."

With that, the tall inu walked off.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"We're here."

The only words that left Sesshomaru's mouth as he looked up at a tall building, long since derelict.

Jaken looked up in awe. An old office block, made almost entirely of glass on the outside, it seemed very tall to the small toad. It seemed dead silent, but the small youkai could sense a chill in the air.

"Evil lurks in there indeed," he muttered. To his alarm, Sesshomaru was already walking inside.

"Master, master, wait for me!"

_I guess that his feelings for his brother are so strong that he'll do anything._

Jaken took a deep breath and followed the icily silent Sesshomaru inside.

The first thing he noticed was that the air was colder in here, and the tension was enough to cut with a knife. The second was that Sesshomaru had stopped and was facing a woman.

No, a youkai.

No human carried themselves with such grace in a long kimono of white and red, carrying a fan. No human had glaring red eyes.

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru narrowed his golden eyes.

"Who I am is not important." She narrowed her eyes in return. "However, I am Kagura, the wind sorceress. You are Sesshomaru, first son of the Inu no Taisho."

"I am."

"You seek your brother."

Sesshomaru kept his cool exterior, but Jaken had known his lord long enough to tell that inside, his heart was racing.

"I do."

The self-proclaimed sorceress hid her face behind her fan. "It's too bad that he's being controlled."

"What?" the retort was sharp and sudden.

"Haven't you heard? After Kikyo died, a great evil possessed him."

"What do you mean?"

"What I say."

Their eyes locked.

Kagura broke the contact first. "But he can be saved."

"How."

Jaken could feel the air echo with the emotions that Sesshomaru was holding tightly back.

"Kill him." She tossed her hair back. "If you kill him and then revive him with your sword, the evil will leave him."

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

"You don't." Kagura flashed him a look from behind her fan. "But take this as a sign of my goodwill." She held up a silver ring. "Touch this to his blood on his body and the thing controlling him will die instantly. You will find him at the old market."

Sesshomaru nodded and walked out without looking back, slipping the ring on his hand.

Jaken followed.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

As the doors swung shut, an evil chuckle could be heard.

"Touch that ring to Inuyasha's blood and both he and you will die." There was another laugh. "That is if you don't kill each other first."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Master, let me have a look at the ring, please." Sesshomaru ignored Jaken, and strode purposefully ahead.

"Please my Lord!" Sesshomaru paused and let the toad glimpse the piece of jewellery. Jaken gasped when he saw it.

"My Lord, take it off! It's…" Sesshomaru walked off. "…going to destroy more than Inuyasha." Jaken finished.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" He called.

There was silence as Sesshomaru's silver form vanished.

"I need to get help!" Jaken closed his eyes and did something that he'd never have done before.

He left Sesshomaru and ran as fast as he could in the other direction.

"That ring… I recognise it…"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Sit!"

There was a large thump and a yell.

"Stupid wench!"

Inuyasha lifted his head from the cold floor and got slowly to his feet.

"Maybe it isn't a good idea to try to steal Shippou's ball?" Miroku asked.

"Feh!"

Kagome had dropped in for a visit and the gang were currently sitting (with the exception of Inuyasha) in a circle, talking.

"Anyway," Kagome continued as though there had been no interruption. "My archery's got a lot better!"

Sango patted her on the back. "That's great!"

Inuyasha sat back down with a huff. "I guess if she can actually hit something then it's good."

Kagome puffed herself up and was just about to give an angry retort when there was a loud noise.

_Smack!_

Miroku lay flat on his back, twitching.

Sango stalked off.

Kagome totally forgot that she was cross with the hanyou and exchanged a perplexed look with him.

"He'll never learn," she muttered, looking at the sky.

Suddenly, Sango froze. Miroku stopped twitching and leapt to his feet. Inuyasha jumped up too.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked shakily. Shippou jumped into her arms.

"Youkai," Miroku muttered.

"Taiyoukai." Sango corrected.

Inuyasha had his sword half unsheathed.

A figure appeared on the roof.

Inuyasha let the sword slide into the sheath.

"Sesshomaru!" he breathed.

Everyone in the market place turned to look at him.

The youkai, Sesshomaru jumped down. Silver hair swirled and cold amber eyes gleamed from out a pale face. Loose white clothes made it impossible to see his build, under the youkai armour that he wore. He carried two swords, one drawn, and the other sheathed.

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha said again. "What are you doing here? You were dead."

Sesshomaru stepped forwards. "You were the one who was dead, little brother."

"B…brother?" Kagome stuttered.

"No way!" Miroku lowered his staff.

Inuyasha saw the rush coming just in time and dodged it. Sesshomaru leapt for him, sword drawn, at full speed. Inuyasha moved aside again, and Sesshomaru's sword missed him.

Just.

Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and countered. "What are you doing?" he asked, desperately parrying. "It's me!"

Sesshomaru snarled back. "It's not you, little brother. You're being controlled." Inuyasha was so surprised that he flew into the air from Sesshomaru's blow. Landing on his feet, he could only stare in disbelief.

"What?"

Sesshomaru paused in attacks. "It's not you," he stated. "And the only way to free you… is to kill you!"

Inuyasha couldn't get out of the way in time. Sesshomaru's sword pierced his shoulder, and the hanyou cried out in pain.

Before the youkai could use the ring. Inuyasha jumped backwards.

"You're mad!" He yelled. "It's me! You're the one being controlled!"

Sesshomaru leapt forwards again. This time Inuyasha was ready, jumping high into the air and dipping his hand into the wound on his shoulder.

"Blades of blood!" He yelled.

Sesshomaru dodged the attack with difficulty.

Inuyasha sprung forwards, but was flung backwards.

\

"Inuyasha!" Kagome tried to run forwards.

"No!" Miroku held her back. "We can't interfere."

Sango appraised the scene. "This… Sesshomaru has been lied to." She said. "And Inuyasha is possibly the only one able to make him see sense."

Kagome gripped Shippou tighter in her arms.

_Inuyasha… please, be ok…_

\

The two brothers met in the air again and exchanged more blows. To his horror, Inuyasha found himself being forced backwards. He put more strength in.

"Sesshomaru, I don't want to kill you!" He yelled.

There was no reply from Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha jumped as high as he could. Sesshomaru followed.

The hanyou lunged forwards with his sword, and Sesshomaru was too slow to stop it.

With a crack, his armour broke. And his arm started burning.

Ignoring the pain, Sesshomaru stabbed wildly forwards. Inuyasha cried out again as the sword pierced his stomach.

Both brothers fell to the floor.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed.

Sesshomaru was up first, one sleeve hanging empty and useless. Inuyasha closely followed, leaping backwards to avoid the sword stroke that would surely have had his head.

"I will free you, little brother." Sesshomaru was breathing heavily. "Even if it kills me!"

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled. "Snap out of it! I'm not being controlled by anything other than my own damn will!"

The brothers looked at each other.

\

"Look at them," Miroku said softly. "They're exhausted."

"But surely, a Taiyoukai wouldn't be at this stage?" Sango asked.

"Taiyoukai?" Kagome asked.

"It means a high youkai – a lord, if you like." Sango offered. "But," she frowned. "They're normally very resilient."

"There's something sapping this one's strength," Miroku narrowed his eyes. "An evil aura coming from his hand."

\

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru leapt at each other again, swords clanging and vibrating with the force of their blows.

Inuyasha suddenly leapt backwards.

"What…" Sesshomaru gasped.

Inuyasha raised his sword and the wind seemed to pick up. Sesshomaru stepped back.

"Sorry, brother." Inuyasha said. "Wind Scar!"

A great bolt of energy shot out of Inuyasha's sword splitting as it went.

Sesshomaru was lifted and thrown in the air. He landed on his front and did not get up.

There was silence.

Inuyasha stepped forwards slowly and shakily.

"Sesshomaru?" he asked.

"Inuyasha!" the hanyou's eyes widened as his battered brother climbed to his feet.

Sesshomaru raised his sword and it seemed to glow.

"Inuyasha, get out of the way!" Miroku yelled. The hanyou turned to look at the monk.

A mistake that could have been fatal.

Energy shot at Inuyasha from the sword, followed immediately by Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha didn't stand a chance. The sword went through him.

Both brothers hit the ground for the second time.

Kagome screamed.

Sesshomaru pulled his sword out of Inuyasha's body with difficulty. Then, he crawled over so he was right next to his brother.

"Sess..hom…aru…" Inuyasha was barely conscious.

Sesshomaru wasn't really much better.

He raised his had with some difficulty. It was a good thing he'd put the ring on his sword hand.

At least for his enemies.

"No!" Sango gasped.

"What?" Miroku looked at her wide eyes.

"That ring… If he touches Inuyasha…"

Kagome looked at Sango. "Sango…"

The teen shook her head.

"Tell me!"

"The… the ring'll explode…"

"And?"

"And… and… kill anyone and everyone in that explosion!"

Kagome felt her breath catch in her throat. She looked, horrified, at Sesshomaru and the gleaming silver ring on his hand.

She closed her eyes.

\

"STOP!"

Everyone froze.

\

\

Phew! I thought this chapter would take longer than it did… but not a lot longer…

No updates next weekend cos I'm away.

CN.


	13. Voice from the heart

Heh… haven't had all that much time for writing this week at all. It sucks!

Anywho, thank you very, very, very much for reviewing! Inuyasha05, Punk Rock Miko2, priestessmykala, Avelyn Lauren, Cold Kikyo and celestialfirefox. It makes me feel very happy!

Disclaimer – If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't have to go back to school on Tuesday. Sob.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

\\\\ Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 12**

** Voice from the heart**

Kagome felt her breath catch in her throat. She looked, horrified, at Sesshomaru and the gleaming silver ring on his hand.

She closed her eyes.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"STOP!"

Everyone froze.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Inuyasha's body was wracked with pain. He could feel the blood leaking slowly out of his body from the wound in his stomach, inflicted by Sesshomaru's sword. Each breath caused more agony, and it was hard to pull the air he needed into his lungs.

But still, he could see his brother again, frozen in surprise and pain. Inuyasha did not want to see his brother in pain.

Not again. Like when their father died.

But he did want to see him. He was so sick of being alone; doing anything he wanted having no one to praise him or blame him, having nothing to lose and never gaining anything. He was sick of his lonely existence, without anyone to love.

Or to love him.

And now, here he was. Sesshomaru. Inuyasha's domineering, annoying, icy-cold half brother, with whom he had spent some of the worst times of his life.

And the best.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Sesshomaru froze at the sound of the voice, his had midway to Inuyasha's chest. That voice… he thought he should know it, but the pain was too much… he couldn't think…

And yet, he could see it now. The evil emitting from the ring that he wore. The ring from that cursed demon Kagura, the one who worked for Naraku.

Sesshomaru shook the ring off, and it flew into the air, and landed, harmless, about ten metres away.

And with that, rational thought returned.

"Brother… forgive me," he whispered.

The prone form lying on the ground smiled. "There is nothing to forgive."

Both brothers sat up, Inuyasha holding his stomach and Sesshomaru clutching his arm. Or at least the stump.

_But that voice… _the youkai considered the problem. _Only someone with a pure heart, with no ill will to youkai or humans could have stopped the spell. Who?_

His initial reaction was Kikyo. The famous miko. But, she was dead.

Inuyasha stood up, slowly. One of the humans who had been watching from the sidelines came running up to him.

Sesshomaru looked at the girl steadily. Maybe he had not been mistaken, for this girl… she was surely Kikyo, come back from the dead.

"Inuyasha, are you OK?" She tried to put an arm around him.

"I'm fine!" Inuyasha snapped back, then winced.

"You are not!" The girl retorted angrily. "If you're so fine, then you'd be able to stand up straight!"

"Kagome…"

Sesshomaru stood up too. No, he could hear it in her voice. Or rather, couldn't. This girl was not the one who had broken the spell.

But then, who?

He whipped around, trying to figure out in which direction the voice had come from.

"Sesshomaru, what…?" Inuyasha asked.

"That voice… who was it?"

Kagome shrugged worriedly. "I don't know. It wasn't Sango," she gestured to the other girl in the market, with long dark hair, "and unless Miroku has had a voice transplant…"

"Hey!"

Sesshomaru decided that he quite liked this girl.

"It wasn't Shippou or Kirara," Sango and Miroku came over, him carrying a small kitsune and her, a neko youkai.

Sesshomaru walked a few paces away from the group, closed his eyes, and listened.

There! He could hear… breathing? But, surely not…

"Jaken?" He opened his golden eyes and called out his servant's name.

Inuyasha groaned. "Ya mean that stupid toad is still with you?"

As if by magic, said stupid toad appeared from the top of one of the houses, jumping down and landing on the other side of the market. "I am not a 'stupid toad'! I am… uuuh…"

He fell silent as Sesshomaru looked at him.

"Jaken. So, you were here."

The youkai bowed nervously. "I'm sorry, my Lord, but I saw the ring and I couldn't break the spell and I knew what it would do and…"

"Thank you." Sesshomaru looked at him.

"My Lord?" Jaken was dumbstruck.

"But it wasn't you who broke the spell." It was not a question.

"N…no, my Lord."

"Broke the spell?" Shippou injected. "What spell?"

"That ring…" Sango pointed to the seemingly harmless piece of jewellery that lay on the floor. "It has the power to destroy, but also to control the heart of the wielder."

"It creates an illusion," continued Miroku. "That none but those who have pure hearts can break. Like Kagome," he added.

"So, whoever broke the spell over Sesshomaru was speaking from their heart when they told him to stop."

"Yes."

"But, who?"

"Jaken. Tell me."

"After you left, I went to find…"

"Lord Sesshomaru, it was me."

All eyes turned on the figure standing in the archway that provided the entrance to the market place.

Scruffy dark hair that flew in all directions topped with a side ponytail framed a face that was pale and thin, yet filled with energy. Large brown eyes looked out from that face, filled with determination. An orange dress, raggedy at the bottom, hung off her body, making her appear like a scarecrow instead of the fifteen-year old that she was.

"Rin…?" Sesshomaru stared at her.

"My Lord." She bowed.

"The silent girl… has found her voice." Jaken looked up at the inu, who was still staring. "My Lord?"

"Girl… Rin," Sesshomaru corrected himself. "You will not bow to me."

Rin stood up. "My lord?" she asked softly. "Let me help your wounds." She walked over and took the youkai lord by the uninjured arm, gently pulling him to leave.

"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru looked his brother in the eye for the first time in years. "I'll find you again soon."

Inuyasha, now supported by Kagome and Miroku, nodded. "Until next time."

He did not move until Sesshomaru, Rin and Jaken had gone.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"_My Lord, take it off! It's…" Sesshomaru walked off. "…going to destroy more than Inuyasha." Jaken finished. _

"_Lord Sesshomaru!" He called._

_There was silence as Sesshomaru's silver form vanished. _

"_I need to get help!" Jaken closed his eyes and did something that he'd never have done before._

_He left Sesshomaru and ran as fast as he could in the other direction._

"That ring… I recognise it…" 

_Jaken hurried down the street._

_\\_

_It wasn't fair to say that Jaken was a coward. He had stuck by his master through thick and thin, against all odds, even when Sesshomaru, quite honestly, had gotten tired of the toad's never-ceasing babble. However, he did have an unfortunate tendency to lose his head in serious situations – which is not a particularly good trait for anyone to have._

_So, in true keeping with his nature, Jaken panicked._

_He ran and ran and ran as fast as he could through the city, thinking about getting help but never quite seeing anyone he could ask for help from._

_This is perfectly normal at one o clock in the morning, of course. _

_In any event, Jaken did not notice that he had passed through to the human side of London until it was a bit too late._

"_Hey, would you look at that?"_

_The toad had stopped running for a bit and was slumped down on the ground, panting._

_He looked up to see a gang of about six men, tall and dressed in what had been decent clothes at the start of the evening, but were now stained in mud and drink. Jaken winced as the smell of beer washed over him._

"_I appear to have run into a gang of drunks." He muttered._

"_Who are you calling drunk!" One of the men swaggered forwards, barely managing to stay on his own two feet. 'We're completely sober!"_

"_Yeah!"_

_Jaken backed up slowly. On any normal occasion, he would have killed the men, but he had left his staff at home and anyway, he was in the human side of town, if he killed the men here it could start an outbreak of fights._

_Jaken really didn't have time for this._

"_Get 'ere now, little froggy!" One of the men made a clumsy lunge, which Jaken dodged easily, and landed face down on the floor._

"'_e killed 'im!" One of the drunks yelled. "'e killed Bob!"_

_All of the men dived for Jaken at once, who was so shocked and insulted at being called a 'little froggy' he didn't move._

_Luckily for Jaken, there was a loud clang that distracted the men. Jaken found himself being picked up and carried off somewhere._

_The men, realizing that there was no one there to make the clang, turned back around… to find their target gone._

_One, threw a stone in sheer frustration, and in true Jaken luck, it flew into the darkness and hit him on the head._

_Everything went black._

_\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

_Jaken opened his eyes again to find himself lying on his back. He struggled to get his eyes in focus, staring at two brown… somethings in from of him. _

_They stared right back._

_Jaken's vision cleared and he found himself looking at the girl Sesshomaru had saved._

"_Rin." He muttered her name._

"_What happened?" she mouthed. _

_Jaken shot up. "My Lord is being controlled by an evil force and I must find someone who can break the spell!"_

_He realized that he was wasting time. _

"_Never mind, I…" He remembered Sesshomaru looking at the silent girl… how he had refused to kill her…_

_Sometimes we are lead to the one who we need the most._

"_Can you break the spell, human?" _

_Rin stared at him, open-mouthed. _

"_If you do not, my Lord will surely die."_

_Rin didn't even stop to think. "Where!" she mouthed. _

_Jaken tried to remember. "At the old market place."_

_Rin grabbed his arm and started running._

_She knew where the market place was, she had been there. And, her heart knew where it was going. To save the one who had saved her._

_The one with golden eyes and silver hair that had spared her life and taken her home. The one who did not ask her to talk or to be anything she wasn't._

_Around that person, that youkai, Rin had felt free. She yearned for that freedom again._

_It gave her strength to run._

_The weak sunlight had stained the sky a cold blue and this made her run faster, Jaken waddling as fast as he could behind her. She had found Jaken the night before and had grabbed him from under the drunk's noses… but then he had been knocked out, so her youkai Lord could be…_

_Wait. Her youkai Lord?_

_Rin chose to ignore that one._

_She could hear the clang of steel as she approached the market, and sensed that all was not well. Jaken's eyes widened as he sniffed the air. _

"_Blood…" Rin pointed up to the roof, gesturing that Jaken should go see what was going on. Rin herself peered into the entrance of the archway._

_What she saw made her heart freeze._

_There was a boy, with dog-ears and silver hair… Inuyasha… her mind whispered. And there, next to him, was Sesshomaru._

_She tried to run, but couldn't move. But, that ring! She knew what it would do… she had to save him!_

_She took a step, then another forwards. No, she would never make it in time!_

_She opened her mouth._

No, what am I doing? I can't talk!

_She saw his eyes, his piercing eyes._

"Is it that you won't or you can't?"

_She heard his voice._

But I…

I can!

_She reached into herself. She could! She would save him!_

"_Stop!" She screamed. _

_And the world went silent._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Now, looking at the inu youkai that she walked behind, she smiled for the first time in a long while.

Sometimes we are lead to the one we need the most. But we need to realise that we need them.

Sesshomaru looked down at the girl by his side.

Somehow… he felt as though part of him had melted.

\\

\\

Quite wordy actually… and slightly confusing.

Please clickie the blue/purple button down there!

CN.


	14. One dark night

OK… I was hoping to get 50 reviews… for the whole story… I'm only half way through… Waaah!

Thank you! Priestessmykala, Punk Rock Miko2, Cold Kikyo, lena, Insane Slytherin (that is an awesome pen name, by the way!) Avelyn Lauren, Inuyasha05 and Jamie (heh… is that a good thing?).

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Inuyasha. Nice and bold!

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 13**

**One dark night**

"Christmas present?"

Sango looked up from sewing her jacket.

The marketplace was strangely quiet, and the cold, empty air of early morning only added to it. The rain that had once again poured down had left the old newspapers soggy and pulpy - unmoved as well as unmoveable by Miroku's brush. Frost had coated the junk heaps, making it seem like they were coated in stardust, the irony of which was not lost on any of the inhabitants.

It was December 19th, six days before Christmas. It was also a Thursday. Meaning Kagome was at school – and also that she had her Christmas concert that night. Shippou had gone to school (unknown to Kagome) to watch the rehearsals, and Inuyasha, presumably, had followed since neither Miroku nor Sango knew exactly where he had gone.

"Yes," Miroku stretched and stood up from where he had been sitting, brushing off his long coat. "Kagome's given us so much, hasn't she? I for one would like to repay her."

Sango nodded. "Yes, I would too, but where are we going to get something for Kagome that she hasn't already got?"

Miroku produced a piece of paper. "For me, that's easy."

Sango sighed. "For you. But I don't have any special talents that enable me to make Kagome something. I can't draw!"

Miroku frowned and rummaged in his pocket. "Well, you have this then." He produced the money that Kagome had given him that he had saved. "I'll draw her something and then you can get a frame."

Sango blinked at the simplicity of the statement. "You can draw well enough?" she asked.

The monk shrugged. "It's what's kept me alive these last five years, and it helped when I was living with Mushin."

"OK then!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Inuyasha glared moodily in through the window.

"You know, Inuyasha, you don't have to stay!" Shippou glared at the inu.

Both were sitting on a tree outside Kagome's school, peering inside. The whole of the girls' choir was currently inside, waiting for their turn to practise, Kagome included. Inuyasha could see her, sitting down, back to the window.

"It's a good thing that you don't need to be able to sing to be in the choir." Muttered the hanyou.

"Kagome can sing!" Shippou retorted. "She's really good!"

"Pah! She's hopeless!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is…"

"Eeep!"

The two ducked out of sight as Kagome turned.

_Funny, I could swear I heard voices… _she looked around. _Nah…_

"Eri!" she turned around. "Stop pacing and come and sit down!"

"Gaah!" Kagome turned around again.

_I'm sure that I hear Inuyasha_… 

Said hanyou was currently flat on his face under the tree.

"What are you doing?" Shippou hissed. "She'll see you."

"Stupid… wench!" Inuyasha pulled his head out of the ground.

"I'm going!" He jumped away, lopsidedly. Shippou watched him go. "His injuries haven't healed properly yet. Not that he'll admit it…"

He shrugged. "More space for me!" He jumped onto Inuyasha's branch

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Hmmm…" Miroku glared at the piece of blank paper. "Hmmm…"

He looked up at the overcast sky, which offered little inspiration to him for a picture. Nor did the setting: the Thames on a cold winter's day, grey waters choppy.

_Maybe this was a little harder than I thought…_

Sango, on the other hand, was having lots more luck. She was currently bending down looking at a row of frames.

"What would Kagome like, I wonder?" she looked at the velvet frames and shook her head.

_Too showy._

The next one…

_Too plain._

Then…

_Too old-fashioned._

Up a shelf.

_Ewww!_

Across…

_There're too many damn frames to chose from! _

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Christmas present?" Inuyasha bent down and looked closely at Kirara. "They're getting a Christmas present for Kagome?"

"Meow!"

Inuyasha stood up. The market was deserted.

Kirara blinked at him.

"What? You think _I_ should get her one too?"

Inuyasha flopped down, cross-legged. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

He lay backwards and looked at the sky. "I used to get Kikyo Christmas presents…"

"_Inuyasha, look!" the hanyou turned towards the miko's hand. He didn't think he'd ever seen Kikyo so happy. She was smiling, her cheeks a rosy red above her scarf and her eyes glittering._

"_They're beautiful!" She breathed, looking at the lights bedecking Trafalgar Square. A giant Christmas tree totally dominated the scene, covered with twinkling stars._

_Inuyasha couldn't help smiling. _

"_Here…" he rummaged in his coat, and produced a small paper bag. "This is for you."_

_Kikyo looked into his eyes, her intent brown gaze matching his own golden one. Then, she took the package and kissed him on the cheek._

"_Thank you, Inuyasha." She gently ripped open the paper, and gasped as the contents fell out; two earrings, for which Inuyasha had scrimped for three months._

"_They're really pretty!" Kikyo put them in her ears. Inuyasha nodded. He knew Kikyo didn't care that they had cost next to nothing. She knew how much that was to Inuyasha. That was what made her special. That was what wade her different._

_That was what made her his._

Inuyasha came back to earth when Kirara nudged him with her paw. He groaned, and got up.

"Alright, I'm going!"

He jumped up and over the rooftops of London.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"No more school! Yes!" Kagome's voice rang throughout her house, much to her grandfather's displeasure.

"Kagome! Will you please be quiet!"

Kagome waltzed past him, taking no notice about what he said whatsoever.

Souta poked his head out of the kitchen. "Kagome! Mum wants to know if you want food tonight for your friends!"

Kagome looked at her watch. "Crap!" She shot upstairs. Souta shrugged.

"Never mind."

Kagome met her mother on the landing. Or rather, met her mother's washing basket.

_Crash!_

"Sorry!" Kagome stopped running and tried to pile the clothes into the basket in double quick time.

Kagome's mother smiled. "Take it easy, there's no rush!"

"But I promised the others that I'd be there by now! I'm late!" Kagome scrabbled around on the floor, grabbing handfuls of clothes and shoving them on top of each other.

The elder Higurashi rolled her eyes. "If you don't mind being late, I have an idea."

"What?" Kagome shoved the last of the clothes (one of her oldest socks, that she hated) back into the basket and stood up.

"I was cleaning up in the attic and I found your father's old tent! If you take it with you, it's big enough for all of you, you could stay the night in the market place."

Kagome frowned. "But dad's old tent was _tiny!"_

Her mother shook her head. "No, not that one, the one that can sleep six."

Kagome's face lit up. "Really! You'd let me?"

Her mother laughed. "Of course. Inuyasha will protect you if anything happens, yes?"

Kagome looked at the ground. "Yeah. He's _over_-protective, if you ask me."

"No. It just shows that he cares about you." Kagome's mother bent down and picked up the washing basket from the floor.

"Now, go and get your sleeping bag and a rucksack and I'll see what old blankets we have."

Kagome shot off.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Sango, Miroku!" The two turned around, Sango shoving the frame she had just bought into one of Miroku's coat pockets. Both teens gaped at the sight of Kagome on her bike, carrying a stuff bag strapped to the back of the bike and a huge rucksack on her back. The evening was getting dark fast, so neither teen stopped to ask questions, just dragged her inside the marketplace.

Shippou appeared from the archway where they slept. "Kagome!" He jumped on her.

"Hey Shippou!" Miroku and Sango blinked as a torch came on.

"Ta daa!" Kagome slung the rucksack off her back.

"What have you got in there, Kagome?" Sango asked.

Kagome grinned. "Mum said I could stay here tonight, so I brought my tent and blankets so we could all fit in."

Miroku's eyes widened in the torchlight. Sango glared at him.

"The tent's got three compartments." Kagome added. The monk's face fell.

"Ah." He said.

"So," Kagome opened the rucksack and pulled out a dark green tent case. "Let's get going!"

\\\\\

About an hour later, three teens and two youkai stood admiring their handiwork. It was a fairly large tent, and Kagome had brought lots of blankets and a few blow-up pillows to pad the inside out. She had also brought some snacks with her.

"Well, what do you think?"

Shippou stared at the dark green monster in awe. "We can sleep in there?" He asked.

Kagome nodded. "Yep! Look!" She grabbed his hand, bent down, and crawled into one of the entrances.

Sango laughed to hear Shippou's yell of delight.

\\\

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah!"

Kagome laughed at Shippou's enthusiasm. The five were sitting inside one of the "rooms" of the tent, blankets wrapped around each one, eating cakes and biscuits. A torch hung from the ceiling to give light. Outside it was almost totally dark.

"It's getting late," Sango yawned. "What time is it?" Shippou produced his watch, proudly holding it in the torchlight.

"Half eleven." Miroku read from the corner.

Kagome wrapped the blanket around herself a little more tightly.

"Are you guys tired?" she asked.

"No, if you want to stay up, we will too," Sango said.

"I'm not tired.. at…" Shippou stifled a huge yawn.

"Of course you're not." Kagome picked him up, and the curled up Kirara.

"I'm going to put them in the next compartment," she told Miroku and Sango. "Then I think I'll stay outside for a bit."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Miroku asked. "What if something happens?"

"Come on! I'll be right outside the tent! What could possibly happen to me?"

Kagome balanced Shippou and Kirara with one hand and crawled out of the cramped space.

"Night, Shippou." The girl gently covered the kitsune with a blanket. Kirara opened one eye, stretched, and closed it again. Kagome left the tent altogether.

Outside it was growing steadily darker. The sky was covered, but Kagome didn't think there would be much moon anyway, even if she could see the stars.

There was a loud bang, and Kagome spun around… to see…

"Inuyasha?" the girl stared incredulously.

She could see the figure of the hanyou clutching a drainpipe at the top of one of the buildings, hanging by only one hand. He was swaying slightly with the breeze, and Kagome hadn't thought that any of the old rusting drainpipes around here were all that strong.

There was an ominous _creak! _Kagome ran to the wall, above him.

"Inuyasha, jump up!" She whispered. The hanyou apparently didn't hear her, a fact that surprised her considerably.

She was just about to repeat herself when the drainpipe, apparently tired of Inuyasha's weight, snapped. The boy hit the floor with a dull thud a few feet away from Kagome, and sat up, coughing.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hurried over to him. "Are you alright?"

The teen turned away from her.

_It's strange… his hair seems black in this light…_

"Inuyasha?"

"Damn human body!" The boy turned around sharply and Kagome gasped.

Instead of bright amber eyes he now had burning amethyst ones, pale face framed by dark hair. His claws had gone, and so had…

"Your ears!" Kagome blinked.

"Yeah. Humans don't have dog ears."

"But… but…"

"Keh!"

When Kagome continued to stare in shock, Inuyasha felt that he should offer some explanation.

"Every half-youkai has a time when they become all human."

"Oh," Kagome finally caught the meaning of Inuyasha's muttering about 'human bodies.' "So, when is it for you?"

"Huh?"

"When you turn human."

Inuyasha looked at her as if seizing her up. "The new moon," he finally said.

Kagome looked at the sky. "Ah…" She stood up. "Come with me then, and stay with us in the tent."

"No thank you!" Inuyasha stood up. "I don't…. aaargh!" He doubled over.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gently touched him on the back. "What's wrong?"

The boy suddenly collapsed against her. Kagome caught him, surprised.

Looking at his chest, she could see the corner of a bandage.

_Oh! I get it! His hanyou body could deal with the wounds left on him by Sesshomaru, but his human one can't._

She pulled the half-conscious boy's arm over her shoulder and hobbled into the tent, into the free room.

Laying Inuyasha flat on the floor, she covered him with a blanket and knelt by him, waiting for him to wake up.

There were no sounds from the rest of the tent, so Kagome could only assume that Sango and Miroku had fallen asleep.

Inuyasha's arm twitched and Kagome bent over him, gently shaking him. "Inuyasha, are you OK?"

The boy opened his eyes. "What happened?" he asked, sitting up suddenly.

Kagome shook her head violently. "Quiet, the others are asleep."

"Oh."

Inuyasha lay back down, feeling more than slightly sore.

"Is there anything I can get for you?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "A pillow would be good, please."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. _Did he just say… 'please'?_

She looked around. "All I've got is my lap," she told Inuyasha.

"Never mind then."

"No… there's no one watching, right?"

Kagome shifted around so that Inuyasha's head was on her legs.

The hanyou-turned-boy closed his eyes. "Thank you."

Kagome smiled. "You're welcome."

There was silence for a long moment.

Kagome was surprised at how natural this felt… it was as though she was comfortable with Inuyasha.

_If this was Hojo, I'd be cringing, _she thought ruefully. _He's so not the guy for me._

She froze. _Hold on… does that mean _Inuyasha's _the one for me?_

She looked down. _Dream on girl._

"Kagome…" Kagome only just stopped herself from jumping. He was supposed to be asleep!

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. You're not stuck up."

"OK… now you're freaking me out!" Kagome put a hand to his head. "Do you have a fever?"

There was no answer. Inuyasha had apparently fallen asleep.

Kagome blinked, then adjusted herself so that she could lie down next to him, putting his head on a rolled up blanket.

_Why didn't I think of that sooner? _

\\\\\\\\\\

Sango woke up slowly, after a better night's sleep that she'd had in ages. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the light of day in the comfortable position she was in, pressed up against something so warm.

Wait. Since when are tents warm?

Sango opened her eyes, to find herself lying by Miroku, her head on his chest.

She blinked, then blinked again.

_Did I… fall asleep _on _him?_

"Eeeep!"

\\\\

The scream woke up Kagome and Inuyasha, who found themselves very close together too. In fact, when they opened their eyes, the first thing each of them saw were the eyes of the other. For what seemed like the millionth time, amber met brown.

Both of them shot away from each other, rolling to opposite sides of the tent. Kagome noted with some relief that Inuyasha was hanyou again.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Lets not tell Miroku and Sango we slept in the same part of the tent."

The hanyou nodded. "Gladly." He shot out of the door. Kagome quickly followed.

Just as she had got out of the tent, Sango crashed into her.

"Kagome!" She grabbed the schoolgirl's hand, desperately. "I just slept next to that LETCHER!"

Kagome really didn't know what to say.

\\\

\\\

Couldn't resist having part of eppy 13 in there somewhere…

Whatcha think?

CN.


	15. Friend and foe

If I yell "I'm sorry it's several months late" as loudly as I can, would you guys forgive me? This year's been hell – I've had important exams, and I was taking two extra subjects, let alone the normal ones and the double ones I was doing.

Disclaimer – I'm so broke right now I don't think I could buy the rights to anything, let alone Inuyasha. Or Barbie. (Mentioned in passing.)

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

\\\\ Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 14**

**Friend and foe**

"_Are you OK?" Her mate had stood up, suddenly, tail rigid, hands clenched. She stood up too, placing a cooling hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"_

"_I thought…" He snarled into the air. "I can't explain it, just something was… wasn't right."_

_She sniffed the air. "Probably a passing Taiyoukai" she remarked. _

"_No…" he shook his head. She loved it when he looked this serious. It was the look that he wore only for her safety. _

"_It's just me being stupid." He concluded, after sniffing the air intently for several seconds. _

_She gave him a gentle nudge. "We'd better think about eating."_

_He grinned. "Don't worry, I have the perfect idea for a great meal!"_

_\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

_He dropped the meat. Their den was wrecked, rubble and dust billowing around as he ran through to the room where his mate should have been._

_There was nothing there._

_Or so he thought._

_The blood he hadn't noticed was cold and sticky on his feet. He felt a shiver pass up his spine._

"_Looking for your mate?" The high cold voice seemed amused._

"_What have you done with her?"_

_The voice chuckled. "You'll soon see as you join her!"_

_The next thing he saw was blackness._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

It was cold and draughty. The early daylight came through the cracks in the ceiling and walls, alien to the dirt and the darkness which filled the room. Cold breezes played about with the dust.

In one corner, what was apparently a man sat at a table, staring discontentedly at nothing. In the darkness, his face was invisible, but one could tell somehow… one knew that his face would have the domineering cruelty of a tyrant.

The youkai who stood a little to his left seemed nervous and apprehensive. Perhaps he felt the atmosphere of malicious brutality, but he seemed to be too afraid to run. His hands were trembling, and his human features were tense.

"My servant." The voice made the youkai start and he jumped to his knees in a gesture of modesty.

"Master?"

"Have you retrieved the Shikon jewel?"

"N..no master. I have not found the one who carries it."

He felt his fur ripple as the air grew colder. "I grow impatient of this. You will find the girl… unless you want your own to suffer."

The youkai bowed his head. "Yes master. I shall leave now."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"… so, I asked my new friends about life on the streets…" Kagome chewed her pen, sitting against a damp wall in the old market-place, on top of some of Miroku's cushions. She glared at her note book.

_Gah! Stupid project!_

She looked around the square for inspiration. In the time that she'd known Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and even Inuyasha, this place was starting to feel almost like a home to her.

Which was a little strange since it was a home for the homeless.

Her gaze rested on the pile of scraps and junk in the far corner, where she could see Miroku tinkering with some item of rubbish, which would probably turn into a lovely (if dodgy) item with which the teens and youkai would buy their food.

Shippou was playing with the ball that he had bought. He had lost it twice today already, and the second time, Inuyasha had actually stuck his hand down one of the drains to get it back.

Speaking of Inuyasha, he was off somewhere with Sango - Kagome had no clue where. But it was unusual, Miroku had said, for him to have spent so much time around them already.

\\\\

"_When I first met him, about a year ago," the monk had said thoughtfully after the hanyou and teen had left, "he was so closed up, I was always amazed that he spoke in full sentences."_

_Kagome blinked. _I think he might be exaggerating…

"_Anyway, I think he's started to change, at least a little," he bent his head further into the heap of odds and ends he was currently rummaging in. "Which, in my mind is a good… aha! This is perfect!"_

_Kagome could only shake her head and hide a smile as Miroku produced an old _Barbie _doll from the pile._

Her gaze fell on the tent that stood erect in the centre of the square and Shippou whammed into it. His ball flew over the top. It had taken a little fast talking, but the homeless teens had agreed to loan it temporarily, in exchange for Kagome interviewing each one for her project.

Of course, being as it was four days before Christmas, she didn't know how much work she was going to get done…

She glared at her notebook and forced herself to concentrate.

That was, until she felt a cold, clawed hand on her shoulder and harsh breath in her ear.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"So, remind me again exactly what you have come with me for?" Sango eyed the silver-haired hanyou next to her, who for the purpose of this trip had donned an old black baseball cap to hide his distinctive ears. Sango herself had procured a long coat from a dustbin (and if Miroku had seen Kagome come up from that particular alley shortly before Sango had made her find, he said nothing), and was looking relatively tidy.

Inuyasha looked away. "Feh."

"It's not to get a Christmas present for anyone, is it?" Sango asked him, playfully.

"Why the hell would I be getting a present for Kagome?" Inuyasha snapped, glaring at Sango. The homeless teen giggled.

"Who said anything about Kagome?" Sango grinned. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder about you two…"

Inuyasha grabbed her by the arm. "Just keep walking." He dragged her off.

And froze.

"Inu…yasha?" Sango glanced at him as his grip on her arm slackened, and then became painfully tight.

"Kagome."

Sango was not sure that she had heard him correctly. "What did you say?" she asked.

"Kagome. In trouble."

"How do you…" Sango trailed off as the rosary around Inuyasha's neck began to softly glow.

"This tells me when she's in danger." Inuyasha shook his head as though to clear it. "I've gotta go to her!"

He swung Sango onto his back. The stunned teen didn't even have time to squawk in surprise as the hanyou leapt into the air.

_Kagome, hold on!_

Sango squeezed her eyes tightly shut as the icy winter air whipped past her face.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Inuyasha stared at the necklace that Kaede had pulled out, made of large brown and black beads and some sharp white… somethings. _

"_What the hell's that?" He asked warily._

"_A rosary." Kaede replied sternly. "It will help you to sense where Kagome is."_

"_And I would want that because?" _

"_You said that you'd protect Kikyo. Kagome harbours her soul. Kagome is Kikyo."_

_Inuyasha grabbed the beaded necklace exasperatedly. _

"_Fine."_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Kagome let out a shriek that was quickly muffled by a second clawed hand.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you!"

Kagome looked up into the dark eyes of a young man – more of a boy, with black hair tamed by a headband and tied into a pony-tail. His sharp teeth gleamed as he looked at her with wary eyes.

"You won't scream?"

Kagome shook her head, her own eyes wide with shock and surprise.

"Good." The hand was released.

"What do you want with me?" Kagome whispered.

The boy shifted one clawed hand to her throat and slowly lifted the glittering pink gem up.

"I want my mate back!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

A short chapter… sorry! But I didn't think I was ever going to get this up – stupid writer's block!

If you guys are still there, please r 'n' r.

CN.


	16. Ally and enemy

Thanks to Inuyasha05, priestessmykala and Avelyn Lauren (yeah, there are better ways. I agree!) for reviewing! Much appreciated!

I apologise now for the title – cos it's basically the same as the last chapter's. I also should apologise if there's any… odd language – studying Shakespeare has a funny effect on English skills…

Disclaimer – Inuyasha belongs to the ingenious Rumiko Takahashi, who's characters I am borrowing to make a story of my own. In short: I don't own!

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

"Ruler" (since it doesn't like my \\\\\\ any more): Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 15**

**Ally and enemy**

Kagome could only stare in bewilderment at the youkai who was standing behind her, a look of surprising worry and fear in his bright eyes.

"Your mate?" Kagome whispered, hoping that Miroku and Shippou hadn't noticed anything. From many of the youkai she had met in the past, when she was younger, the air they gave out had sent shivers down the girl's back. This one seemed different – not fear-inspiring. Indeed, she felt more pity for him than anything else.

"My mate! That bastard took her from me. Now, I need that gem!" His claws slid down the necklace chain, to the glittering Shikon jewel around Kagome's neck. However, no sooner had he touched it than his hand shot back and he let out a curse.

"What's wrong?" Kagome fingered the stone, puzzled.

"Can't touch it." The youkai winced, glaring at his burnt fingers.

There was silence for a second. Then…

"Who took your mate?" Kagome turned gently concerned eyes towards the boy behind her. "Can I help?"

"A bastard called Naraku." The youkai gritted his teeth. "He told me I had to get that gem around your neck to get her back."

"Naraku?" Kagome's voice rose, unintentionally. "Are you sure it was him?"

"You know him?"

"Yes – he…"

_Wham!_

A blur of red and white shot past Kagome's vision, snarling viciously.

"Kagome! Get out of here!" The silver-haired hanyou looked like he had just run a marathon and the traces of cold fear were only just fading from his amber eyes.

"Inuyasha!"

The half-youkai had pinned the full to the floor, and was holding him down, one hand straying near his sword.

"Get off me!" The youkai forced Inuyasha off. The dog-eared teen flipped in the air and landed in front of Kagome, his hand on his sword hilt.

"Wolf-turd. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Might ask you the same question, dog-shit."

"Feh."

A staring match ensued – amber-gold against sky-blue.

"I need the gem that woman wears around her neck." The youkai – wolf youkai – announced to Kagome's hanyou protector.

Inuyasha snarled. "Over my dead body, Kouga!"

"Fine! Bring it on!"

Kagome could only stare, speechless, as the two canines attacked each other, claw matching claw.

"Too slow!" Kouga danced away from Inuyasha's attacks. He could not however, land any himself.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Shippou and Miroku dashed over, attracted by the commotion. "What's happening?"

Kagome shook her head as she watched the two fighting. If the circumstances had been different, she would have marvelled at how their innate grace matched move for move, like a dance.

"That's a wolf youkai" Shippou narrowed green eyes at the situation. "They're usually pretty calm."

"What could have happened to him?" Miroku wondered.

"He said…" Kagome winced as Kouga's claws slashed Inuyasha's arm. "He said his mate was taken… by Naraku."

"Naraku?" Miroku sharply turned his head to the battle. "Then this fighting is pointless. We've got to stop them!"

"Yes, but how?" Kagome wrung her hands. "It's not like we can get them to rest as a half-time on benches like a sport…"

"Kagome!" Sango appeared, panting, in the archway. "What's going on? Inuyasha dashed off with me, then dumped me three streets over! Whoo!"

She was forced to duck as Kouga flew over her head and into a wall.

"They're fighting!" Kagome sought to explain. "Because the wolf has lost his mate and needs the Shikon jewel to get her back."

Sango sprinted across the square as Kouga darted back at Inuyasha.

"Can't you stop them?" she asked.

If Kagome hadn't been so worried, she would have found it amusing that the same words came from Sango as Miroku.

"Wait!" Shippou tugged at Kagome's sleeve. "The rosary!"

The girl's eyes widened. "But if I ground Inuyasha, then what about Kouga?"

"Kirara!" Sango's command held implicit instructions. "Kouga!"

The small cat meowed before transforming to her larger form in a burst of flame. She leapt towards the wolf-youkai's side of the battle.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. "SIT!"

Inuyasha hit the ground with a loud crash, just as Kouga jumped at him. The command probably saved the hanyou from serious injury – but the force of Kouga's punch as it connected with his arm was enough for Inuyasha to feel (and the spectators to hear) the bones in his arm give a sickening crack.

He lay still, winded and wincing.

Kirara leapt onto the wolf before he could do anything other than blink at the situation. Kouga suddenly found himself flat on his back, one large fluffy paw holding him down. He shied away from the heat that inevitably followed the cat from her initial transformation.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome sprinted over to the sprawled hanyou, and helped him to his feet. "Are you ok?"

"Fine!" Inuyasha pushed her away with his good hand, finding himself unable to use his bad.

_That damn wolf got me good._

Kagome eyed him, but decided not to say anything there and then.

"Right." She marched over to the pinned youkai. "Kouga, are you hurt?"

There was silence as all the spectators blinked.

"…eh?"

"Are you hurt?" Kagome repeated, irritated at the sudden silence.

"…no."

"Good. Kirara, let him up please."

The big cat regarded her doubtfully, but lifted her paw, allowing Kouga to sit up and massage his bruised chest.

He looked quizzically at her. "Why are you helping me?" he demanded.

"That's just Kagome," Shippou interjected, jumping next to him. "She helped all of us, too."

Miroku nodded. "Rarely have I met a kinder girl."

Sango backed him up. Inuyasha said nothing, but Kouga could see him fingering the rosary around his neck.

"You _are _kind," the wolf mused. "Because you didn't scream when you could have."

"You didn't scream?" Inuyasha rounded on Kagome, snarling. "Have you no sense of self-preservation, wench?"

"I do!" Kagome snapped back. "But Kouga looked desperate."

"That's not the point!"

Kouga stared at the two bickering teens. "They do this a lot?"

Miroku nodded sagely. "All the time, my friend. I think it's how they show they care."

"Shut up!" The teen fell silent as Inuyasha and Kagome fixed glares at him.

"Then again…" Sango murmured.

Kouga got up, slowly. "This… Naraku. You know of him?" He asked the bystanders.

Sango narrowed her eyes. "Yes. I've got a score to settle with him."

Miroku clenched his hands. "As have I, for daring to hurt you." Sango looked at him in surprise.

Inuyasha and Kagome ceased arguing. "Naraku was the one who killed Kikyo." Inuyasha added, lowly.

"He's attacked us before," Kagome laid her hand over the beautiful stone around her neck. "For this."

Kouga looked up at the crisp winter sky. "Then, will you help me?"

The others exchanged glances.

* * *

"So you have returned." The cool voice echoed through the draughty building, sending shivers up the wolf's neck. "And have you the power to save your mate?" 

Kouga gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. "Master," he began. "I found the one who carries the jewel."

"Excellent." Hands clasped at the rotting desk, and the form leant forwards in the gloom.

"… there… there was a fight," Kouga whispered, feeling sick. "And the jewel…"

"You have the jewel?"

"Y…yes, master." Slowly, Kouga took from around his neck a pink, glittering gem and placed it before Naraku.

"Please, let my mate go!"

"But of course!" The sound was not reassuring to the youkai, and he suppressed a shiver.

"I did as I was asked. Now, please!"

His only answer was a pointed finger and a slow, evil laugh.

"Where's Ayame!"

* * *

"You sure about this?" Inuyasha clutched his bad arm to his side as he jumped over the rooftops. "I mean, that wolf could betray us." 

Kagome, clinging tightly to his back, shook her head. "No. Kouga wants his mate back. I trust him."

"You're a trusting person."

Kagome looked up at the sky, clear and cool, dotted with hundreds of softly glowing stars. The moon was a sliver of silver, though she knew that it soon would wax.

The rooftops beneath her seemed small as Inuyasha leapt upwards, with warm golden light spilling out of those windows whose curtains had not yet been drawn.

"I hope the others are alright." Kagome murmured.

Inuyasha's sharp ears pricked. "They will be."

* * *

The same clear sky was reflected in Sango's eyes as she looked upwards. She shivered in her thin outfit, but was forced to hide a smile at Miroku's face when she had gotten changed into her battle gear. 

"_Why… what are you wearing?" _he had spluttered at her skin-tight body suit.

"_My family were part of the police," _Sango had told him. _"The division which dealt with youkai and human co-operation. Sometimes it meant we had to battle, so all of my family were trained youkai fighters." _

She fingered Hiraikotsu, her chosen weapon (the boomerang Miroku had seen her pull out of her bag when they first met) and brought her gaze downwards to Kirara's smooth rolling back.

"Are you alright?" She asked, hoping that heard her words were heard before the wind took them.

"Yeah." The teen who was clinging tightly to fistfuls of Kirara's fur tightened his jaw-line.

"I think so." Shippou's higher pitched voice was easier to hear over the wind as Sango bent down to see where they were.

"Almost there…"

* * *

It was cold and the floor felt damp as Miroku, Sango and Shippou clambered off Kirara's warm back. The winter's wind seemed to go through them as it whipped its way across the ceaselessly moving surface of the Thames, carving a path of spray, before whistling through the huge old warehouses behind them. 

"You're late." Inuyasha and Kagome emerged from the shadow of the grey warehouse behind them.

"We're not as fast as you," Miroku replied.

Sango gripped Hiraikotsu so tightly she nearly drew blood.

_So, this is where Kouga said Naraku's headquarters were._

The four teens and two youkai looked at the warehouse grimly, before gazing at each other.

"Ready?" Inuyasha asked.

"Ready!"

* * *

Miroku paused for breath as he, Sango and Kirara moved swiftly into the draughty upstairs of the building. They flitted between shadows, desperately trying to not be spotted by the youkai that they knew were lurking. 

Sango paused. "Miroku, are you alright?" She didn't trust herself to speak above a concerned whisper.

The monk leaned his head against the wall. "I'm fine," he said hoarsely. "I am unused to using such large quantities of spiritual energy. Just give me a few seconds."

Sango nodded, and a few moments later, Miroku took a deep breath, straightened up and took a step forwards.

The warehouse was in a disgusting state, Miroku noted as they continued their exploration. Slime flecked the walls, and the few windows they had passed were grimy. Through his thin shoes, the street-teen could feel the wetness of the cold cement floor, and he pulled his long raggedy coat closer in a feeble attempt to block the chill wind. His staff was raised in front of him, and he could see Sango clutching her own weapon just ahead.

"So, she's not been nearby," Sango whispered and half-turned to Kirara as the three came to the top of the stairs.

Kirara shook her head. Sango was glad for her presence, because even in her small form Kirara was a soothing influence on the teen's highly-strung nerves.

"Well, I had thought you had perished in the fire." Sango whipped around. "But I suppose I can just kill you now."

"Naraku!"

* * *

"Can you smell her?" Kagome peered down at Inuyasha, who was sniffing the floor. He straightened up. 

"I think so, but," he growled, "it's hard to tell with all the damp. And oil."

"Oil?"

Shippou leapt down from Kagome's shoulder, and jumped along the floor a little ways. "I can't smell wolf down here," he noted when he bounded back.

Inuyasha nodded. "Alright, then we go this way," he gestured to the small door in the wall.

"Are you sure?" Kagome clutched at his sleeve.

"No, but we gotta try."

The door felt cold to Inuyasha's questing hand as he searched for the handle, but he could smell the signs of it being used regularly.

He gently pushed it open, noting with a snort of disgust that the hinges moved soundlessly, and explaining the scent of oil he had picked up.

Kagome peered over his shoulders, and found her gaze locked by that of a redhead with piercing green eyes the same intensity as Kouga's.

"Ayame?"

* * *

A longer chapter this time… I'm having fun juggling life at the moment though, so updates may not be regular. 

Anyway, tell me what you think!

CN.


	17. An interesting encounter

Yo! This isn't a chapter I particularly like, but I thought I should get something up… 

Arigato to you guys who reviewed: priestessmykala, bbgirl15, Cold Kikyo, Avelyn Lauren, My heart is on Sonoma Country, Inuyasha05 and fireyfeline. Reviews make me write faster!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha me no own.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

'ruler' - Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 16 **

**An interesting encounter**

Sango narrowed her eyes at the one who had destroyed her family. She took a long look at the one she had last seen through a haze of heat and pain.

Truth be told, there wasn't that much to see. Naraku's figure was tall, and maybe a little imposing, but was made more eerie and strange by the loose baboon skin that was draped over him, the hollowed out eye-holes empty and cold. The arms hung limp, and Sango could not make out a trace of skin anywhere.

"So, you are Miroku." The empty face turned to the teen. "I'm surprised that you are even still alive. Surely life on the streets would take its toll on a cursed body."

"So sorry, but I'm still here." Miroku wrapped his left hand tightly around the beads woven about his right for a second, before raising his staff. "And you'll pay for what you did."

"Touching," the figure laughed as Sango raised her boomerang, and Kirara let loose a growl. "But mere humans like you will never defeat a youkai like me."

"What do you want with the Shikon no Tama, Naraku?" Sango spat out. "Surely you know you cannot use it?"

"Ah, no. But," and the face seemed to be filled with malice. "The thing that gives the humans and youkai hope that their races will unite… I can destroy it."

"You… you…" Sango's mind reeled. All her life she had been told that someday, the Shikon jewel would end all wars between youkai and humans. And this… this… _thing_ wished to destroy that chance of peace.

"You killed my family for that?" Sango gripped Hiraikotsu so tightly blood dripped down her hand.

"Not all your family." Sango froze in mid swing. "I have found that your brother makes such a _wonderful _mind-slave."

"You…!"

"Bastard!" Miroku and Sango attacked at the same time.

The laugh that came from the baboon-cloaked figure sounded strange. "Maybe I am… but you will have to wait to get you revenge, girl."

The bottom of the cloaked figure seemed to explode, thick brown legs emerging until the monstrosity remaining was no more that a many-legged spider.

"A puppet!" Miroku leapt out of the way as one of the legs pounded the floor where he had been.

"Curse him! He knew we were coming!" Sango's boomerang ripped through three legs.

"Aim for the centre! Demon puppets have to have a core!" Miroku himself swung wildly at the puppet, missing the body and hitting a leg, which pinned him to the wall.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Miroku dropped to the floor, winded.

Sango desperately threw her weapon again, and Miroku forced himself up to his knees and ran, bent double, towards the many flailing legs and leg-stumps.

"Distraction!" He yelled at the startled youkai fighter.

Sango threw Hiraikotsu at the thing's baboon-covered head in response.

Three things seemed to happen simultaneously.

First, Kirara leapt at the head from the other side.

The puppet raised most of its legs to protect its head from the flying cat and the wickedly sharp boomerang.

And Miroku dived underneath it, ripped off the cloth covering his cursed hand and touched the thing's underbelly.

Even as Sango caught her weapon, (and Kirara, who was whacked away like a cricket ball by a wildly waving leg), the puppet gave a mighty groan, tottered, and then, to Sango's amazement, began to disintegrate from the inside out, sand pouring on Miroku who held his hand steadily on what was fast-becoming a mountain of sand.

"Miroku!" The thing gave a sigh and the last of it slowly fell away, covering the monk who stood underneath it. On the very top of the pile fell a small piece of wood, which remained for a few seconds before decomposing as well.

"Miroku!" Sango ran towards the huge pile and desperately started digging. She gasped as she hit flesh and found it bruised and swollen. "Please!"

There was a cough and then a small eruption as Miroku's head and shoulders forced themselves through the sand. He coughed, snatching the hand the Sango hand hit away.

"You idiot!" He choked as soon as he had breath. "That's my cursed hand! If you'd touched the palm you would have died!"

Sango bit back a gasp. "Then give me your other hand and let me pull you out!"

With much effort, and some digging on Kirara's part, Miroku stood free, and re-covering his cursed hand, which. Sango observed was black and blue with bruises, which extended half-way to his elbow. The hand itself looked painfully swollen.

"Are you alright?" She asked. "You hand…"

"Yeah." Miroku slipped the beads back on. "The sickness that this thing… induces makes creatures… disintegrate from the inside. Thus, internal bleeding. It also apparently works on puppets too," he remarked.

"You mean you didn't know if it would?" Sango was suddenly, irrationally, frightened. "You mean it might not have worked?"

"Well… I thought it would but it's not like I've tried it."

"You… you… IDIOT!"

_Slap!_

* * *

"Ayame?" 

"Where?" Shippou struggled to get a look.

"Not right now, Shippou," Kagome held out a hand. "Can you keep guard?"

"Yep!"

She turned her attention back in front of her, and winced in sympathy at the pitiful figure chained by both hands to the wall. Her hair, the colour of autumn leaves, had become tangled, and on her face were several ugly bruises.

"Who are you?" Her eyes held Kagome's, and then flickered to the hanyou's. "Inuyasha I know, but who are you?"

"My name is Kagome," the teen hastily ran towards the wolf. "Kouga sent us to help you."

"Kouga?" Even as Kagome attempted to prise the chains away from the wall, Ayame fixed her with a look of pitiful hope. "My mate? He's alive?"

"He's alive," Inuyasha growled. "Or he was an hour ago."

The words seemed to give the youkai extra strength, and she pulled at the chains.

They wouldn't budge.

"Aah!" Kagome looked at her hands, blistering from pulling at rusty iron.

"Wench, get out of the way." Inuyasha placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, and, surprisingly gentle, pushed her out of the way.

"Hold the chain straight," he commanded the red-head on the ground.

Ayame did so.

The chain didn't stand a chance.

Two more slashes later, Ayame was standing up and ready to go.

"We're meeting Kouga later," Kagome explained to the battered wolf. "For now, we need to get out of here."

"Easier said than done." Inuyasha and Kagome froze at the familiar voice.

"Kagome! It's Kagura … Waaaah!" Shippou was thrown towards the others by a huge gust of wind.

Inuyasha leapt in front of the others. He glared at her.

She smirked back.

He drew Tetsusaiga. The cool steel made a steady rasp as it came from the sheath.

She held up her fan.

"Wait!"

Blade and fan lowered slightly as Kagome stepped forwards, Shippou clinging desperately to one shoulder, bow raised and arrow drawn.

"Why do you have to fight us?" Kagome asked, recklessly.

Kagura's crimson eyes widened in surprise. "I have no choice," she finally said, bitterly. "Naraku holds my life and the life of my sister."

"Then let us go, and if we defeat Naraku, we'll give you your freedom." The teen's eyes were serious, and the wind sorceress found herself believing her.

So did Inuyasha.

"What?! You're going to let her go!"

"Of course."

"Stupid wench!"

"SIT!"

* * *

Sango and Miroku collapsed to their knees outside the warehouse. 

"Where are they?" Sango gasped. "We were meant to meet out here…"

"They must have found Ayame," Miroku sat up. "She wasn't in our half of the warehouse."

"Maybe…" Sango trailed off, worried. Somehow, Kagome, and even Inuyasha, had become very dear to her, and she didn't want to lose a friend. Not like she had lost her brother.

"Kohaku…" She whispered.

Miroku's sharp ears heard her. "Don't worry," he took her hand. "Mind slaves are controlled by an outside influence, but if you take said influence off then they'll be the people that they always were." He gave her hand a squeeze. "You'll see your brother again."

"Miroku…"

Sango found herself lost in his eyes.

Too bad that at that moment Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou and the newly rescued Ayame shot from a window, dodging a thrown blade.

"Coming down!" Shippou yelled.

Sango and Miroku parted as though they had been burnt.

_Whump!_

The youkai, human and hanyou hit the ground in a big heap.

"Everyone! You're all ok!" Sango sounded delighted.

Inuyasha extracted himself from the heap. "She _sat _me. In front of _Kagura._"

"You saw Kagura?" Miroku was instantly alert.

"Don't worry," Kagome helped Ayame up. "She let us go."

"You _sat _me." Inuyasha muttered.

"If you keep on, then I'll sit you again!"

_Splat._

"Oops. Sorry about that."

Sango held out a hand to the wolf youkai standing nearby. "Ayame, right?" When the youkai nodded, she continued. "I'm Sango."

The green-eyed girl accepted the hand. "Thank you."

"Well, I think we should probably make ourselves scarce," Miroku commented. "Since we have got what we came for," he bowed to Ayame, "and we can get details later. Naraku may come after us."

"No danger of that," Shippou grinned. "Kagura told us that he'd definitely move base after we found this one."

"Oh."

"Does that mean that we won't be able to find him," Sango frowned. "Because we need to."

"No." Inuyasha picked himself up and gave a wicked smirk. "It means he's vulnerable."

* * *

"Ayame!" Kouga bounded towards his mate as soon as she walked in through the door of their den. 

He'd been waiting for so long that he'd been beginning to wonder… but no, she was here. She was alive!

She looked around critically, taking in the wrecked room, the deep gouges running across the ceiling, and the broken furniture.

"I think we're going to have to redecorate."

Kouga blinked.

* * *

"So Naraku's got control of your little brother?" Kagome sat with Sango against a wall in the market, both covered by a blanket taken from the tent. The night was cold, and both girls were shivering a little. 

Sango, who didn't trust herself to speak after the events of the night, merely nodded.

Kagome put both her arms out, and Sango gladly leant against her. It had been such a long time since she had had a shoulder to cry against.

* * *

"Naraku holds Kagura's life?" Miroku muttered. "What does that mean?" 

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't know. But she sounded desperate"

"I don't like this." The monk was quiet.

"It's happening, isn't it." Inuyasha's golden eyes were downcast.

"Yes," the teen sighed. "It's happening."

* * *

Sango and Kagome wandered over to where Miroku and Inuyasha were talking. 

"You guys alright?" Sango asked, quietly.

"Yeah."

"You bet!"

Shippou, riding on Kirara in her small form, trotted up.

"Oh!" Kagome grinned. "I was meant to ask you…" she checked her watch. "Yesterday."

"Huh?"

"You guys don't have anywhere to go for Christmas, do you?"

There was silence.

"Then come home with me!"

The silence continued. Then…

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Meow!"

"We could do that, really?"

"What the hell?"

Kagome was greeted by an explosion of noise.

"I take it you approve?" She caught sight of the others' growing smiles in the gloom. "I was meant to take you home with me yesterday, but I guess it doesn't matter. Let's go!"

* * *

And with that being said… 

Over half way there!

CN.


	18. Tis the season

Thanks to priestessmykala, Avelyn Lauren, Inuyasha05 and Cold Kikyo for reviewing. XD 

This should have been up last weekend… but my friend's dad died very suddenly two weeks ago, and somehow all the time I'd put aside vanished, because we had to help her family. Hey, Shuv, if you ever read this, thinking of ya!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha me no own.

"…" Speech

_Italics: _Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

_'ruler'_ Change of time/scene.

**Chapter 17**

'**Tis the season…**

"Shippou! Be careful!"

_Crash!_

"Owww!" Shippou sat up at the bottom of the stairs, clutching his head and surrounded by sparkling tinsel.

"Are you alright?" Kagome bent down, carrying a large cardboard box. "You shouldn't run with so much tinsel."

"I'm fine!" Shippou sprung up, forgetting that he was surrounded by decorations.

_Splat!_

"Owww…"

"That's not a good place to sit." Miroku, half hidden behind a large, prickly tree, stuck his head out. Sango stood behind him, carrying the trailing tree-lights.

Kagome picked the kitsune up and dusted him off. "You'd better take that to Inuyasha," she suggested. "He's taking care of decorating high places."

The fox shot off.

"Careful, or you'll…"

_Bang!_

"…Trip." Kagome shook her head.

"Where do you want this tree?" Miroku asked. "It's a little heavy."

"Oh, sorry." Kagome stood up straight and hefted her box higher. "This way."

_

* * *

"I was meant to take you home with me yesterday, but I guess it doesn't matter. Let's go!"_

Kagome had really meant those words, and soon enough, the early hours of that morning found the teens, Shippou and Kirara making their way through the streets by way of streetlight. The cold weather meant that they met nobody en-route (not that many people would be out at that time of the morning anyway), and as they went, Kagome had explained to them about her family.

They passed through streets with shops, and streets with narrow, tall houses. Sango had to slap a hand over Miroku's mouth at one point as he made a comment about bathroom windows and women. Inuyasha shook his head in disgust.

The houses started getting larger, until Kagome stopped outside an old Victorian house with a well-kept lawn and a huge tree in the front garden.

"Here's my home," she gestured, then opened the garden gate.

"Sis!" A boy shot out of the front door and stopped in front of the surprised girl.

"Souta! What are you doing up?" The others looked Kagome's younger brother over, noting the same jet-black hair and glowing eyes.

"I wanted to meet your friends!" He turned to the others. "I'm Souta!"

"I'm Sango," the girl smiled. The boy was the same age as Kohaku would have been. "This is Miroku, Kirara -" "Meow!" "- Shippou and Inuyasha." She pointed to the monk, carrying the little cat, then Inuyasha, who was holding a snoozing Shippou.

Kagome placed a hand over her brother's mouth. "Inside. It's freezing out here!"

"…Okay."

Upon opening the front door, the others were quickly greeted by Kagome's welcoming… _different _family.

"Come in, you'll catch your deaths of cold!" Mrs. Higurashi ushered them into the hall without a question as to why they were so late… or early.

"There haven't been youkai in this house since 1907!" An elderly man whom they could only assume to be Kagome's grandfather, walked in. "It's a big step forwards! Why, in the history of this house…"

Mrs. Higurashi hurried them upstairs. "Come on, we need to find you some beds and some clothes. You must be shattered!"

"… and then the law was passed in 1919 stating that humans and youkai had to live separately…"

Souta, who had followed them upstairs, shook his head. "That's Grandpa!"

Inuyasha twitched his ears.

Mrs. Higurashi blinked. "Are they real?" She asked, reaching up and tweaking one.

"Yes!" Inuyasha jerked his head out of her grip.

"What's going on?" Shippou had apparently woken up. He jumped down, rubbing his eyes.

"You're tiny!" Souta exclaimed. "How old are you?"

Shippou blinked at him. "…"

"He's about fifty, in human years," Inuyasha said, frowning slightly. "So that means that he's…" he did some calculations in his head, "… seven or eight."

"How old are you, Inuyasha?" Souta asked.

"Me?" The hanyou looked astonished. "Why do you want to know?"

"He's just curious, Inuyasha." Kagome snapped. "You don't have to be so defensive all the time."

"I'm not being defensive, wench!"

Mrs. Higurashi picked up Shippou as the two started yet another argument.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Souta asked.

"Nah," Miroku shrugged. "It's just their way of showing they care."

"I do not care about that wench!"

"Who'd care about that self-centred idiot!"

Souta gaped.

"Well… beds won't make themselves," Mrs. Higurashi saved Miroku from two scary-looking teens by opening a nearby door and throwing sheets at everyone. "And I would like to get to bed before dawn."

Miroku sent a mental prayer of thanks.

* * *

Inuyasha was not pleased. At all. 

Shippou was sharing Souta's room – the two had hit it off well once the human had gotten over the shock of the age ratio. Miroku, Sango and Kirara were all in the spare guest room (Sango wasn't too happy either – even though they had separate beds, she had hung a curtain in-between the two while she got changed into borrowed nightclothes.)

Which left him. And no spare rooms.

Kagome wouldn't let him sleep outside – she had said something about it being cold, and Christmas being a time for family. He obviously couldn't sleep in the same room as Mrs. Higurashi, and Souta had warned him before he turned his own light off that their grandfather snored. Loudly.

He couldn't sleep on the sofa downstairs either, because the Higurashi's Christmas decorations, which had just been taken down from the attic, were piled high on top of it.

Which left…

"Guess you're sleeping in my room, Inuyasha." Kagome had said, dragging an airbed inside.

This was the reason why he was sitting against a wall on said airbed, while Kagome got ready for bed in the bathroom.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome came back into the room, placing her hairbrush on her dresser, before sitting on her bed. "Are you alright?"

"… yeah."

There was an uneasy silence for a few seconds.

"So… what do you _do_ at Christmas, exactly?" Kagome looked over at the hanyou in surprise.

"Well… we give presents," she considered for a minute, "And some people go to church on Christmas day. We normally spend the day together, as a family, and at lunch we have turkey – and after, crackers and chocolate!"

"As a family…" Inuyasha repeated the phrase under his breath.

"But before Christmas, we have to put up decorations all around the house… and we get carol singers… and advent calendars…"

"But there aren't any decorations here now," Inuyasha frowned.

"No… we're all putting them up tomorrow!"

"What the hell?"

"Together," Kagome added firmly. Then she hesitated. "Did you celebrate Christmas at all? You know, with your family?" She realised that, other than his relationship with Kikyo, and the fact that he had a brother, she knew next to nothing about the hanyou.

"… I don't really remember." Inuyasha closed his eyes. "My mother and father did, I think, and Sesshomaru did too, but they died when I was really young. I remember singing… and laughing… and holly hanging up in the house…" He opened his eyes, to find Kagome staring at him. "What?"

"It's just that… I don't often hear you talk about your past," Kagome smiled. "It's nice." She frowned. "But didn't you have a tree?"

"I don't think so. I was born before Christmas trees."(1) Kagome raised an eyebrow. "I'm about two hundred human years."

Kagome struggled not to gasp, or let on that she was shocked. She knew that youkai and hanyou aged differently… but two hundred… "How old are you then, if you convert?"

Inuyasha's eyes closed again. "About… sixteen or seventeen…" Kagome smiled as he relaxed and fell asleep. Moving softly, she placed a blanket around him, before tip-toeing back to her own bed.

"Goodnight, Inuyasha."

* * *

Thus, the next morning found all the occupants of the Higurashi house helping to decorate. Inuyasha was hanging lights, watched by an adoring Souta, while Shippou ran around handing different items to different people. Miroku and Sango were in charge of the large Christmas tree that was to go in the main room – as soon as Miroku managed to get it through the door, anyway. Kagome and her mother were hanging wreaths around the house, and Grandpa Higurashi was wandering about, doing odd jobs. 

So, essentially, ordered chaos.

"Left!" Sango yelled at Miroku, who, unable to see where he was going, had crashed into a wall. Again. "The door's to your left!"

Miroku took a few steps in that general direction and was gratified when Sango gave him a shove forwards into the room. He gladly deposited his burden – one large, prickly Christmas tree, down on the floor.

Sango started to wrap the Christmas lights around the tree. Miroku started in wonder at the little multi-coloured candle-shaped lights as each was clipped to a tree-branch.

"You could help, you know," Sango pointed out.

"I've never decorated a Christmas tree before." Miroku took a step forwards, and carefully took a string of lights with which to decorate.

"Never?"

"No. Mushin didn't really believe in Christmas. Besides, it's not like we had the money, anyway." Miroku clipped a light, watching Sango's actions carefully to make sure he was doing it right.

"Oh."

There was silence for a moment, until Shippou leapt into the room, trailing silver and gold tinsel.

"For the tree!" The little kitsune dropped his burden and then shot off.

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances.

"Okay… so how do you do this?" Miroku held the decoration out so it twisted like a silvery snake.

"Not like that," Sango muttered as she grabbed his hand before he could do anything. "Wrap it around a branch, like this, then…"

Miroku, meanwhile, grabbed a gold strip and started to wrap that, too.

"Miroku…" Sango started. "That's my hand you've wrapped with the tinsel."

Miroku grinned. "I think you'd make a good tree, Sango."

"What do you…mmmph!" Miroku placed a hand over her mouth and proceeded to wrap the tinsel around her, pinning her hands by her sides.

"Now…" he looked thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment. "Ah. It appears that we're standing under some mistletoe… so…" Bending down, he captured her lips for a brief kiss, then before she had recovered from the shock, legged it out of the room and down the hall.

Inuyasha was a little surprised to find Miroku shoot passed him, followed immediately by a flushed Sango, who still had some tinsel around her neck.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Note(1): 

Christmas trees didn't come to Britain until the Victorian era, when Prince Albert brought them over from Germany. But people had always decorated their houses and celebrated Christmas with very similar traditions to now – although they also used to drink mead, which is a vanishing tradition. I'm taking Inu to be about 200, so he'd have been born about 1805.

Meh. Not a chapter I'm particularly happy with.

R'n'r?

CN.


End file.
